Centre Yoram Moefana will replace the injured Jonathan Danty in host nation France's side for the World Cup opener with New Zealand, head coach Fabien Galthie announced on Wednesday.
La Rochelle's Danty, 30, suffered a hamstring injury late last month and will miss Friday's highly-anticipated match in Paris.
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Bordeaux-Begles' Moefana, 23, is in line to make his 15th Test start against the three-time World Cup winners after making his debut in 2020.
"Yoram has three years of experience with us," Galthie told reporters
"We've worked on a lot of combinations and we have to be able to adapt.
"During this competition there are four group games, then potentially three knockouts. This France team will change," he added.
There are two other changes from the warm-up win over Australia on August 27 as lock Cameron Woki comes in for the injured Paul Willemse and prop Reda Wardi starts instead of Jean-Baptise Gros.
"At tight-head we have Reda then Jean-Baptiste to finish," Galthie said.
"We have what we need," he added.
As expected, ex-France captain Galthie has decided against including Bastien Chalureau in his matchday squad, with Romain Taofifenua taking his usual spot with the substitutes.
On Monday, the Montpellier lock denied he was racist after being at the centre of a row about his inclusion in the squad following a conviction in 2020 for a racially motivated attack, which he is appealing.
On the bench, Galthie has decided to go with five forwards and three backs with cente Arthur Vincent the beneficiary instead of a 6-2 split.
Leading contenders France have lost just twice since July 2021 and last suffered defeat at home four months earlier.
With our form we thought we had to balance our power and strength in a more classical way," Galthie said.
He said he had selected "players who can bring energy at the right time if things aren't going the way we want it to."
Toulouse tight-head Dorian Aldegheri has been picked among the replacements ahead of Bordeaux-Begles' Sipili Falatea, who is Moefana's uncle.
Aldegheri, 30, has won the Top 14 title three times with his club, and featured for his country just 12 times.
"Dorian is there because he deserves it, he has had an extraordinary path with us and his club," Galthie said.
"He's very important for us," he added.
Les Bleus also play Uruguay, Namibia and Italy in Pool A as they bid to win the Rugby World Cup for the first time.
France (15-1): Thomas Ramos; Damian Penaud, Gael Fickou, Yoram Moefana, Gabin Villiere; Matthieu Jalibert, Antoine Dupont; Gregory Alldritt, Charles Ollivon, Francois Cros; Thibaud Flament, Cameron Woki; Uini Atonio, Julien Marchand, Reda Wardi
Replacements: Peato Mauvaka, Jean-Baptiste Gros, Dorian Aldegheri, Romain Taofifenua, Paul Boudehent, Maxime Lucu, Arthur Vincent, Melvyn Jaminet
