Nick Mallett has made several changes to his Italy side for the trip to France © Getty Images

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Matches: France 25 - 13 Italy

Players/Officials: Yannick Jauzion

France have named three uncapped players in their starting XV for Sunday's RBS 6 Nations clash with Italy in Paris.

Prop Fabien Barcella, flanker Ibrahim Diarra and centre Yann David have all been handed call-ups, with head coach Marc Lievremont making a raft of changes following Les Bleus' 24-13 defeat to England a week and a half ago.

Veteran lock Jerome Thion is selected even though he has been suffering with a buttock strain this week, while young Montpellier flanker Fulgence Ouedraogo returns to the back row, with Julien Bonnaire dropping to the bench.

Behind the scrum, Lievremont has gone with an all-Clermont-Auvergne back three by uniting recalled duo Anthony Floch and Julien Malzieu - who have two caps between them - with winger Aurelien Rougerie. David, 19, will be partnered by returning Toulouse star Yannick Jauzion in midfield.

Dimitri Yachvili, the only recognised kicker in the starting XV, is back at scrum-half and will combine with Francois Trinh-Duc at half-back. Two other uncapped players, hooker Guillem Guirado and scrum-half Julien Tomas, will start on the bench on Sunday.

"We are making a turnover, but keeping the balance in the team," said Lievremont, whose hopes of a Six Nations grand slam in his first season in charge of Les Bleus were dashed by the defeat to England. "We want to win against Italy, but win in a good manner at the same time."

France won their opening two games of the tournament, against Scotland and Ireland, and still have a chance of retaining the title they have won for the last two years.

Marco Bortolami returns to Italy's second row for the Stade de France clash. The Gloucester lock is one of four changes to the Italy side. Kaine Robertson replaces Albert Sgarbi on the wing after recovering from injury, while in the front row, Andrea Lo Cicero replaces Salvatore Perugini.

Alessandro Zanni comes in for Mauro Bergamasco, who were suspended for gouging. Coach Nick Mallett said that the Italian Federation is examining carefully the suspension handed out to Bergamasco for gouging during the match against Wales.

Mallett said that while Bergamasco's actions were inexcusable, he questioned the conduct of the Welsh players leading up to the incident and that it should also have been looked at. "In the last minutes of that game there were things that happened to Mauro on the field which caused him to lose his head. He was either punched or elbowed in the back of the head two minutes from the end," Mallett told a news conference on Wednesday.

"When taking a chip he was tackled high and injured his shoulder in the last seconds. There's no excuse for the way he behaved but there is a reason."

Viadana's uncapped Jacobus Erasmus is likely to win his first cap from the bench.

France: A Floch; A Rougerie (both Clermont-Auvergne), Y Jauzion (Toulouse), Y David (Bourgoin), J Malzieu (Clermont-Auvergne); F Trinh-Duc (Montpellier), D Yachvili (Biarritz); F Barcella (Auch), D Szarzewski (Stade Francais), N Mas (Perpignan), L Nallet (Castres, capt), J Thion (Biarritz), F Ouedraogo (Montpellier), I Diarra (Montauban), L Picamoles (Montpellier).

Replacements: G Guirado (Perpignan), J-B Poux (Toulouse), A Mela (Albi), J Bonnaire (Clermont-Auvergne), J Tomas (Montpellier), D Traille (Biarritz), V Clerc (Toulouse).

Italy: Andrea Marcato, Kaine Robertson, Gonzalo Canale, Mirco Bergamasco, Ezio Galon, Andrea Masi, Simon Picone, Sergio Parisse (capt), Alessandro Zanni, Josh Sole, Marco Bortolami, Carlo Antonio Del Fava, Martin Castrogiovanni, Leonardo Ghiraldini, Andrea Lo Cicero.

Replacements: Fabio Ongaro, Carlos Nieto, Salvatore Perugini, Jacobus Erasmus, Pietro Travagli, Enrico Patrizio, Alberto Sgarbi.