The star scrum-half missed last year's Six Nations to concentrate on Olympics preparation with the France sevens squad, and he played a key role in them winning gold on home soil. Dupont links up with Toulouse colleague Romain Ntamack as his half-back partner, and there is a start for Pau wing Theo Attissogbe.
Attissogbe, who wins his fourth cap, takes over from an injured Damian Penaud, while another injury absentee - lock Thibaud Flament - is replaced by Alexandre Roumat. France have won their last six games against Wales, and they host a team without a Test victory since beating Georgia during the World Cup.
Scrum half Tomos Williams will be alongside Thomas, the latter picked due to an injury to Sam Costelow and the desire to look at other options beyond Gareth Anscombe. The side will be captained by Jac Morgan, who has James Botham and number eight Aaron Wainwright with him at the back of the scrum.
The Six Nations is the best rugby competition in the world," Gatland said. We want to go out there, embrace that and start our championship well. By clicking on 'Sign Up' you will be the first to know about our latest and best sporting content on this browser. You have accepted push notifications for this content.
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