Eight of his starting XV ply their trade in France while every member of Les Bleus' line-up also play in the Top 14, so there will be few surprises between the sides in Rome.

Both teams will have no shortage of motivation with France needing a big victory to put pressure on leaders England while the Azzurri will be desperate to get off the mark in the 2011 Championship, having come desperately close against both Ireland and Wales at home.

A late Ronan O'Gara drop goal denied them a first victory over Ireland while Wales made them pay for failing to convert bags of second-half territory and possession into points in their 24-16 defeat.

Mallett makes seven changes in total from that side with hooker Carlo Festuccia, one of Italy's four Racing Metro players, getting his first start of the Championship at hooker.

And the 30-year-old says Italy know exactly what to expect from a France team licking their wounds after an eight-game Six Nations winning streak came to an end at Twickenham in Round Three.

"I face their players every week and I know their quality and what they are capable of," said Festuccia who will be winning his 50th cap.

"France will come to Rome ready to respond to all the criticism they have received this week from the French media and their fans following their defeat to England at Twickenham.

"They will bring out their best against us.

"And if we give them a chance, they will counter-attack from their own half.

"We can expect a big battle, especially from a physical standpoint."

Festuccia's Racing teammate Andrea lo Cicero joins him in the front row alongside Martin Castrogiovanni and Carlo del Fava comes into the second row.

Fly-half Luciano Orquera again plays musical chairs with Kris Burton while Gonzalo Garcia returns after a back injury to form a midfield pairing with Gonzalo Canale.

The highly-rated Tommaso Benvenuti comes onto the wing with the versatile Andrea Masi, who has played in every backline position bar scrum-half for the Azzurri, replacing Luke McLean at full-back.

Marc Lievremont too cannot resist the temptation to shuffle his pack although has surprised many by keeping faith with No.8 Sebastian Chabal.

Instead Imanol Harinordoquy makes way to accommodate the return Julien Bonnaire on the flank, while Maxime Medard also makes his comeback from injury at full-back as Clement Poitrenaud drops to the bench.

Prop Thomas Domingo drops out of the team as the grizzled Sylvain Marconnet gets a starting berth; and, in an enforced change, Morgan Parra will renew half-back duties with Francois Trinh-Duc after Dimitri Yachvili was a late injury pull out.

While several commentators have questioned the decision to keep Chabal and winger Yoann Huget in the team, Lievremont maintains they deserve a second chance.

He said: "I watched the (England) game again. Chabal's performance, as well as Clement Poitrenaud's and Yoann Huget's, did not seem disastrous to me."