Rugby World Cup: French surprise All Blacks, gamble with Parra at fly-half

France's coach Marc Lievremont sprang a major surprise on Tuesday by handing Morgan Parra a rare start at fly-half for this weekend's pivotal World Cup Pool A clash against New Zealand.

Parra, nicknamed the 'Little General', switches from his normal scrum-half position to replace Francois Trinh-Duc, who drops to the bench, after an impressive kicking display in the 46-19 win over Canada on Sunday.

"My deliberations were long," Lievremont told reporters at the team hotel. "The decision over the halfbacks has not been easy, but Francois Trinh-Duc has paid the price a bit for his two only partially successful displays.

"Morgan Parra has taken his place and done well twice. At a certain point you have to make a choice. I am now waiting for a response from Francois, certainly [when he comes on] during the game on Saturday."

Parra played at fly-half for the last quarter of both previous pool matches as France finally overcame stuttering starts to secure bonus point wins.

The 22-year-old said he was surprised at being handed the number 10 shirt and conceded it would be a challenge to play in an unfamiliar role against the tournament favourites.

"Yes, it's a bit tough, but I'm just going to do the best that I can and not put any extra pressure on myself," said Parra.

"It's always exciting to play against the All Blacks, especially in their backyard. But it is going to be a hard match.

"It's a chance to test ourselves against one of the best teams in the tournament. It's going to give us a good indication of where we are and what we need to work on going forward."

Dimitri Yachvili, who impressed with the boot in France's opening victory against Japan, starts at scrum-half, but it remains unclear who will have kicking duties on Saturday.

Lievremont, who rarely names the same team for successive matches, also reshuffled his pack for the encounter at Eden Park which is likely to decide the winner of the pool.

Captain Thierry Dusautoir returns to the side after missing the win over Canada and joins Julien Bonnaire and Louis Picamoles in the back row.

Aurelien Rougerie, who stood in as captain against Canada, moves into the centre with Maxime Medard taking over on the wing.

In the competitive position of hooker, Dimitri Szarzewski starts ahead of William Servat while lock Lionel Nallet returns in place of Romain Millo-Chluski.

"It was a difficult team to select," Lievremont said. "This is not a match like the others.

"I hope the players approach it with pleasure, passion and without pressure and bring honour to the shirt."

France: 15-Damien Traille, 14-Vincent Clerc, 13-Aurelien Rougerie, 12-Maxime Mermoz, 11-Maxime Medard, 10-Morgan Parra, 9-Dimitri Yachvili, 8-Louis Picamoles, 7-Julien Bonnaire, 6-Thierry  Dusautoir (captain), 5-Lionel Nallet, 4-Pascal Pape, 3-Luc Ducalcon, 2-Dimitri Szarzewski, 1-Jean-Baptiste Poux.

Replacements: 16-William Servat, 17-Fabien Barcella, 18-Julien Pierre, 19-Imanol Harinordoquy, 20-Francois Trinh-Duc, 21-Fabrice Estebanez, 22-Cedric Heymans.