Cult figure Sebastien Chabal will get a run at No. 8 in the French team to play Argentina in Saturday's rugby Test at Montpellier.

`The Caveman', who is as well known for his full beard and long hair as much as his ability on the field, has been in outstanding form for the Paris-based Racing-Metro this season and coach Marc Lievremont said he wanted to see how he performed in the back row from the start of a match.

Chabal has been a regular in Lievremont's squads since he took over from Bernard Laporte as coach in 2008, but has been used as a lock up until now.

He is one of 14 changes made to side that started last Saturday's game against Fiji, which the French won 34-12, as Lievremont experiments ahead of the third and final autumn Test match against Australia in Paris on November 27.

"Given that Imanol (Harinordoquy) started the game against Fiji, it was logical that Sebastien Chabal gets the nod against Argentina," Lievremont said.

Only Biarritz utility back Damien Traille keeps his place at fly-half, although he has a new half-back partner in the shape of Morgan Parra.

Clermont's Aurelien Rougerie gets a rare run at centre, while there is a first cap for 23-year-old Yoann Huget of Bayonne on the wing.

Apart from testing players for next year's World Cup in New Zealand, the French will also have revenge on their minds having lost heavily 41-13 to the Pumas in a Buenos Aires Test match in June.

"They gave us a hammering then," said Lievremont. "That result will obviously be a factor for several players, but we must not fall into the trap of being over-motivated, and losing our discipline.

"The Argentinians are a very intelligent side and in the past they have been able to unsettle us."

The French team announced on Tuesday to play Argentina in a Test match at Montpellier on Saturday:

Alexis Palisson (Brive); Yoann Huget (Bayonne), Aurelien Rougerie (Clermont), Yannick Jauzion (Toulouse), Marc Andreu (Castres); Damien Traille (Biarritz), Morgan Parra (Clermont); Sebastien Chabal (Racing-Metro), Julien Bonnaire (Clermont), Thierry Dusautoir (Toulouse, capt.); Lionel Nallet (Racing-Metro), Julien Pierre (Clermont); Nicolas Mas (Perpignan), William Servat (Toulouse), Thomas Domingo (Clermont)

Replacements: Guilhem Guirado (Perpignan), Luc Ducalcon (Castres), Jerome Thion (Biarritz), Imanol Harinordoquy (Biarritz), Dimitri Yachvili (Biarritz), Fabrice Estebanez (Brive), Jerome Porical (Perpignan)

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