France will persist with regular scrum-half Morgan Parra at fly-half for Saturday's Pool A clash with Tonga.
Parra made his first start in the pivotal number 10 position in the 37-17 loss to New Zealand on Saturday, a move that looked to have merit as it created headaches for the Rugby World Cup host nation's defence.
The 20-point deficit was more to do with France's defensive inefficiencies rather than any lack of cohesion at half-back.
It has prompted coach Marc Lievremont to stick with using Parra outside Dimitri Yachvili and is now the likely tactic if France make the quarter-finals.
Lievremont has made only three changes from the side that was well beaten by the All Blacks.
Hooker William Servat and number eight Raphael Lakafia return after starting earlier matches, while Alexis Palisson makes his World Cup debut on the left wing.
Dimitri Szarkewski makes way for Servat, while Louis Picamoles and Damien Traille miss out on the match-day squad altogether.
Maxime Medard is switched from the wing to full-back, allowing Palisson to slot in.
France, sitting comfortably in second in Pool A, would ensure their progression to the next stage by beating Tonga.
Their opponents in the last eight look like being England, should they beat Scotland on the same day.
France: Maxime Medard; Vincent Clerc, Aurelien Rougerie, Maxime Mermoz, Alexis Palisson; Morgan Parra, Dimitri Yachvili; Jean-Baptiste Poux, William Servat, Luc Ducalcon, Pascal Pape, Lionel Nallet, Thierry Dusautoir (capt), Julien Bonnaire, Raphael Lakafia.
Replacements: Dimitri Szarkewski, Fabien Barcella, Julien Pierre, Imanol Harinordoquy, Francois Trinh-Duc, Fabrice Estebanez, Cedric Heymans.