Lievremont sees no need to tinker

Rugby: France coach Marc Lievremont has kept faith with the squad which lost to England at Saturday for Les Bleus’ next Six …

Rugby:France coach Marc Lievremont has kept faith with the squad which lost to England at Saturday for Les Bleus' next Six Nations game in Italy on March 12th. The only change sees fullback Maxime Medard return after missing the Twickenham trip with a hamstring problem.

With Medard back available, there is no place for Alexis Palisson, while outhalf Francois Trinh-Duc has also been included for the Stadio Flaminio encounter on Saturday week despite suffering a knee injury at the weekend.

Reigning champions France will look to return to winning ways against Nick Mallett’s Azzurri in 11 days’ time before concluding their Six Nations campaign at home to Wales the following weekend.

France squad

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Forwards:N Mas (Perpignan), T Domingo (Clermont), L Ducalcon (Castres), S Marconnet (Biarritz), W Servat (Stade Toulousain), G Guirado (Perpignan), L Nallet (Racing-Metro), J Pierre (Clermont), J Thion (Biarritz), T Dusautoir (Stade Toulousain, capt), J Bonnaire (Clermont), I Harinordoquy (Biarritz), S Chabal (Racing-Metro).

Backs:M Parra (Clermont), D Yachvili (Biarritz), F Trinh-Duc (Montpellier), Y Jauzion (Stade Toulousain), A Rougerie (Clermont), V Clerc (Stade Toulousain), Y Huget (Bayonne), M Medard (Stade Toulousain), D Traille (Biarritz), C Poitrenaud (Stade Toulousain).