Damien Traille, who will play at full-back, and centre Florian Fritz return behind the scrum, while flanker Julien Bonnaire and prop Fabien Barcella also start.

Julien Malzieu, Mathieu Bastareaud, Jerome Thion and Lionel Faure are the men to drop out, with prop Faure not even making the bench.

France are out of the running for the title, but could finish second in the table if they win at Stadio Flaminio and results go their way later on Saturday.

Italy, who have lost all four of their matches in this tournament, ran Wales close in Rome last Saturday and will look to continue their improvement seven days on.

Azzurri coach Nick Mallett has kept faith with the players that started against Wales, with centre Andrea Masi failing to shake off a neck injury. Scrum-half Paul Griffen has recovered from a rib injury, though.

Italy, who know that even a victory on Saturday is unlikely to save them from the wooden spoon, have never beaten France in the RBS 6 Nations.

Indeed, the French usually have a field day in Rome, having amassed a total of 178 points in their four previous visits to the Eternal City in the competition.

France have also made two positional changes, with Sebastien Chabal returning to the second row having played at flanker at Twickenham and Maxime Medard playing on the wing to accommodate Traille's inclusion at full-back.