With flyhalf Dimitri Yachvili carrying a thigh injury Sunday’s match at Eden Park, Lievremont prefers to have the uncapped Doussain on the bench as a backup scrumhalf rather than switching Morgan Parra from flyhalf back to scrumhalf should Yachvili go off.

“We need to have a complete halfback pairing on the bench,” Lievremont said, adding that Parra’s high workrate was crucial to keeping the Wales midfield in check.

“Morgan is a very mobile player and works enormously hard,” he said.

No. 8 Louis Picamoles and center David Marty dropped out of the match 22. Ouedraogo’s only previous World Cup match was a start in the pool win over Canada nearly a month ago.

Yachvili bruised his thigh in last weekend’s quarterfinal win against England and resumed light training only on Wednesday. Lievremont confirmed he will start against Wales and that Parra will take over goalkicking duties.

During Friday’s training session, Parra practiced his kicking from the left and right side of Eden Park under the watchful eye of kicking coach Gonzalo Quesada, a redoubtable kicker when he played flyhalf for Argentina.

Reserve flyhalf Francois Trinh-Duc also put in a stint kicking from over 40 meters, suggesting he could take over kicking duties from Parra should he get injured or go off against Wales.

The 20-year-old Doussain has never played for France, but could play if Yachvili breaks down in the match. Doussain helped Toulouse win the Top 14 last season, and has played in the last two under-20 world championships.

“He’s not here by chance. I have great faith in him, he’s a player I like,” Lievremont said. “We’ve worked all week with Jean-Marc in the scrum to anticipate an eventual injury to Dimitri at the end of the game. If he’s picked, it’s because he’s apt to play, he will train normally this afternoon.”

Lievremont also said Trinh-Duc could be called on to play at inside center.