France v Italy: Teams

Revenge will be in the air in Paris as France kick-off their RBS Six Nations challenge against Italy on Saturday.

Les Bleus, the favourites for the title, suffered a historic first defeat to Italy at the end of last season's tournament.

Defeat in Rome, though, should not be classed as that much of a shock anymore - with the Azzurri notoriously hard to play at home, while they have continued to develop as a side.

France put that defeat - as well as a heavy loss to the All Blacks and another upset, this time to Tonga - behind them to reach the World Cup final later in the year.

And with a wealth of talent and Philippe Saint-Andre bringing a calming influence to the squad after the clashes with former coach Marc Lievremont, France is expecting big things.

Vowed

Saint-Andre has opted against making wholesale changes - with the core of the French side that almost only lost 8-7 to New Zealand in the World Cup in October remaining intact.

Wesley Fofana, Louis Picamoles, Julien Malzieu, Vincent Debaty and Francois Trinh-Duc all come into the side - with the line-up looking to have a better balance about it.

Italy also have a new man at the helm, with Jacques Brunel, formerly of Perpignan, taking over from Nick Mallett.

Brunel has vowed to make Italy serious challengers for the title within two years - and up front he certainly has the tools to work with. Unfortunately Azzurri do not have the same depth of talent in the backs.

As a result Brunel has decided to give a number of talented youngsters a chance in the back division - with winger Giovanbattista Venditti earning a first cap and Tommaso Benvenutti and Alberto Sgarbi teaming up in the midfield.

The pack looks as strong as ever even though Mauro Bergamasco has been omitted in favour of Robert Barbieri. But with the likes of Sergio Parisse, Alessandro Zanni and Martin Castrogiovanni, Italy do have the potential to cause France in the tight.

France: 15 Maxime Medard, 14 Vincent Clerc, 13 Aurelien Rougerie, 12 Wesley Fofana, 11 Julien Malzieu, 10 François Trinh-Duc, 9 Dimitri Yachvili, 8 Louis Picamoles, 7 Julien Bonnaire, 6 Thierry Dusautoir (c), 5 Lionel Nallet, 4 Pascal Pape, 3 Nicolas Mas, 2 William Servat, 1 Vincent Debaty.
Replacements: 16 Dimitri Szarzewski, 17 Jean-Baptiste Poux, 18 Yoann Maestri, 19 Imanol Harinordoquy, 20 Morgan Parra, 21 Lionel Beauxis, 22 Maxime Mermoz.

Italy:15 Andrea Masi, 14 Giovanbattista Venditti, 13 Tommaso Benvenuti, 12 Alberto Sgarbi, 11 Luke McLean, 10 Kristopher Burton, 9 Edoardo Gori, 8 Sergio Parisse (c) 7 Robert Barbieri, 6 Alessandro Zanni, 5 Quintin Geldenhuys, 4 Cornelius van Zyl, 3 Martin Castrogiovanni, 2 Leonardo Ghiraldini, 1 Andrea Lo Cicero.
Replacements: 16 Tommaso D'Apice, 17 Lorenzo Cittadini, 18 Marco Bortolami, 19 Simone Favaro, 20 Fabio Semenzato, 21 Tobias Botes, 22 Gonzalo Canale.