The Biarritz star sustained a thigh injury in last Saturday’s 19-12 win over England but has recovered sufficiently to be named in coach Marc Lievremont’s initial starting XV.

The 31-year-old, who fired two penalties against Martin Johnson’s side, admitted he may have to relinquish kicking duties to Morgan Parra who has again been named at fly-half.

He said: "There's a chance that I won't do the kicking but I'm fine, things are following their natural course.

“I'm still in the healing phase but everything's coming along well.

"I took a blow to the thigh, and the fact I played on and took more knocks to it meant that the internal bleeding increased. You need a few days' rest for it to scar properly."

Lievremont has named an unchanged starting XV, 11 of which lined up against Wales in their 28-9 victory in RBS 6 Nations earlier this year, with two additional replacements named in case of injuries.

France, who have won six of the last seven meetings against the Welsh, will be looking to go one better than the previous two tournaments where they have failed to progress past the last four and Lievremont is wary of the danger Warren Gatland’s team possess.

"We have to be capable of imposing our own style of rugby, Wales have been playing with great intelligence,” said Lievremont.

“I have been impressed by their spirit and they have been playing world-class rugby."