Galon, who can play at either wing or centre, was forced to sit out the matches against Ireland and England because of a knee injury but the 28-year-old has now returned to the squad ahead of this weekends clash with France.

It remains to be seen whether Galon - who was a first-choice selection for coach Pierre Berbizier in the November Tests - can win a spot in the Italy starting line-up in Paris but the Parma ace admits he is just content to be back involved.

I'm very happy to be part of this team again, he said.

I trained hard after the injury and I'm proud to be included in this wonderful group. I hoped to be recalled but to be honest I did not think it would happen this week for the difficult game against Les Bleus.

He added: It doesn't matter if in the end I do not play but I will do everything I can to remain with this group - stay on the bench, even go in the stands, it is just wonderful to be here.

Galons prospects of starting against the French will not have been helped by two impressive performances by the Azzurri in his absence.

In their opening match, Italy were unfortunate to lose 26-16 against Ireland while they also gave reigning world champions England a run for their money in their second outing in Rome before going down 31-16.

Captain Marco Bortolami admits the game against England on February 11 was probably the most physically demanding game of his career but after appearing for club side Narbonne last weekend, there appears to have been no lasting effects for the second row.

I don't feel any problems at all, he said.

The game against England was hard. It was the hardest I have played in my entire career. I needed three days to recover from it.

Meanwhile, Italy coach Berbizier has drafted second row Valerio Bernabo into his training squad ahead of the France clash, taking the total of players up to 25.