The 25-year-old earned his maiden international call up for the Azzurri during the autumn internationals, starting the 42-10 defeat to New Zealand and the 22-19 loss to Australia a week later.

And Minto, who plays for Treviso, will now make his RBS 6 Nations bow with Brunel opting to put him in the second row along with Quintin Geldenhuys for the clash against France.

With just two caps, Minto is the least experienced member of the Italian squad, which will be led by Sergio Parisse, while Andrea Lo Cicero is just two international appearances away from 100.

Parisse and Martin Castrogiovanni are both close to the same milestone on 91 while Andrea Masi, the RBS Player of the Championship for the 2011 6 Nations, starts a full-back.

ITALY

15 Andrea Masi (London Wasps)
14 Giovanbattista Venditti (Zebre Rugby)
13 Tommaso Benvenuti (Benetton Treviso)
12 Alberto Sgarbi (Benetton Treviso)
11 Luke McLean (Benetton Treviso)
10 Luciano Orquera (Zebre Rugby)
9 Tobias Botes (Benetton Treviso)

1 Andrea Lo Cicero (Racing-Metro Paris)
2 Leonardo Ghiraldini (Benetton Treviso)
3 Martin Castrogiovanni (Leicester Tigers)
4 Quintin Geldenhuys (Zebre Rugby)
5 Francesco Minto (Benetton Treviso)
6 Alessandro Zanni (Benetton Treviso)
7 Simone Favaro (Benetton Treviso)
8 Sergio Parisse (Stade Francais)

Replacements:
16 Davide Giazzon (Zebre Rugby)
17 Alberto De Marchi (Benetton Treviso)
18 Lorenzo Cittadini (Benetton Treviso)
19 Antonio Pavanello (Benetton Treviso)
20 Paul Derbyshire (Benetton Treviso)
21 Edoardo Gori (Benetton Treviso)
22 Kristopher Burton (Benetton Treviso)
23 Gonzalo Canale (La Rochelle)