Romain Ntamack will miss the clash against England after his red card (Image: Getty)
France boss Fabien Galthie is ready to unleash fit-again try machine Damian Penaud on at Twickenham on Saturday.
But fly-half Romain Ntamack will miss the game after chiefs confirmed he will serve a minimum one-match ban for his red card against in the tournament opener.
Ntamack was dismissed for a high tackle on Welsh fly-half Ben Thomas, which was dubbed a ‘revenge shot’ by former skipper Sam Warburton.
The Frenchman could have got a bigger suspension but previous good behaviour, admission of guilt and a trip to World Rugby’s tackle school keeps it to a single game.
Wing Penaud missed that 43-0 hammering of the Welsh with a toe injury but trained at the French base in Marcoussis, a suburb of Paris, on Wednesday.
That spells bad news for England with Penaud champing at the bit and just two tries short of the iconic Serge Blanco’s record mark of 38 for Les Bleus.
Damien Penaud will return for France against England at Twickenham (Image: Getty)
The 28-year-old has been in blistering form for Bordeaux Begles this season, scoring six tries in a Champions Cup game against the Sharks and a hat-trick against Exeter.
He is set to replace 20-year-old Pau wing Theo Attissogbe, who scored twice in the demolition of the Welsh in Paris.
Matthieu Jalibert, Penaud’s teammate at Bordeaux, is favourite to replace Ntamack after kissing and making up with Galthie.
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Jalibert was fuming when he was not picked in the 23 for France’s November Test against New Zealand and walked out of the squad, to turn out for his club rather than be a non-playing reserve.
Galthie will announce his team this on Thursday morning before the squad head to London for training at Twickenham on Friday.