Matthieu Jalibert will start at out-half for France in Saturday's Six Nations round two trip to England, with head coach Fabien Galthie resisting the urge to move Thomas Ramps or Antoine Dupont out of position.
With Romain Ntamack suspended following his red card in last week’s win aganst Wales, there had been speculation in France that Dupont or Ramos could be utilised in the 10 shirt, but both players keep their places in the backline.
Jalibert is one of two changes to the team that started last week’s 43-0 win in Paris, his first appearance since early November, when he asked to be sent back to his club Bordeaux-Begles, having fallen behind Ntamack in the out-half depth chart.
The other change to the French line-up comes on the wing, where Damian Penaud returns after overcoming a toe injury, replacing Theo Attissogbe, who scored two tries last week.
Attisogbe misses out on the matchday squad entirely, with Galthie again opting for a 6:2 split among his replacements, with Nolann Le Garrec and Emilien Gailleton covering the backline
The pack is unchanged, with Jean-Baptiste Gros keeping his place at loosehead prop despite Cyril Baille’s return from injury last week.
Meanwhile, England have united Fin Smith (above) and Marcus Smith in their starting backline for the first time as they look to reignite their campaign at Twickenham.
Fin Smith will make his first appearance in the number 10 jersey after winning all seven of his caps as a replacement, with his namesake moving to full-back to accommodate the change at out-half.
Head coach Steve Borthwick has made a total of five changes, two of them positional, for the round two fixture at Allianz Stadium.
Ollie Sleightholme returns to the left wing after Cadan Murley was ruled out by a foot injury sustained in the 27-22 defeat by Ireland in Dublin last Saturday which could end his tournament.
Tom Willis makes his first start at number eight as part of a back row reshuffle that sees Ben Earl move to openside and Ben Curry drop to a bench bolstered by the return of veterans Jamie George and Elliot Daly.
England: Freddie Steward; Tommy Freeman, Henry Slade, Ollie Lawrence, Ollie Sleightholme; Marcus Smith, Alex Mitchell; Ellis Genge, Luke Cowan-Dickie, Will Stuart; Maro Itoje (capt), George Martin; Tom Curry, Ben Earl, Tom Willis
Replacements: Jamie George, Fin Baxter, Joe Heyes, Ollie Chessum, Chandler Cunningham-South, Ben Curry, Harry Randall, Elliot Daly
France: Thomas Ramos; Damian Penaud, Pierre-Louis Barassi, Yoram Moefana, Louis Bielle-Biarrey; Matthieu Jalibert, Antoine Dupont (capt); Jean Baptiste Gros, Peato Muvaka, Uini Atonio; Alexandre Roumat; Emmanuel Meafou; Francois Cros, Paul Boudehent, Gregory Alldritt
Replacements: Julien Marchand, Cyril Baille, Georges-Henri Colombe, Hugo Auradou, Mickael Guillard, Oscar Jegou, Nolann Le Garrec, Emilien Gailleton
Taulupe Faletau (above) will end a 16-month absence from Test rugby in Wales’ meeting with Italy at Stadio Olimpico.
The 34-year-old, who has won 104 Wales caps and played five Tests for the British and Irish Lions, returns as one of two changes to the side hammered 43-0 by France last Friday.
Number 8 Faletau has not made a Test appearance since suffering a broken arm during a 2023 World Cup pool victory over Georgia, with a string of fitness issues keeping him out of action over the last year or so.
Faletau becomes the fifth-most capped Welshman in his own right after Alun Wyn Jones, Gethin Jenkins, George North and Dan Biggar.
Scarlets centre Eddie James will make his first Test start as Wales seek to end a record run of 13 straight international defeats.
James, whose three Test caps have all come from the bench, replaces Owen Watkin after the Ospreys centre suffered a serious knee injury in Paris.
Back-row forward Aaron Wainwright takes his place on the replacements’ bench after a nasty facial cut against France forced him off early on.
Wales have not lost in Rome since 2007 but have been beaten by the Azzurri in two of their last three meetings.
Gatland’s squad have spent the week training on the Cote d’Azur in the south of France for a game billed as one of the most important for Welsh rugby in recent memory.
Defeat to Italy would leave Wales with the very real prospect of a second winless Six Nations campaign and wooden spoon, putting Gatland’s position under intense scrutiny.
Italy head coach Gonzalo Quesada (above) has made one change to his side from the 31-19 defeat to Scotland.
The Azzurri boss has made a swap at second row, with Niccolo Cannone coming in to partner Federico Ruzza, while Dino Lamb of Harlequins drops to the bench.
Quesada has also been forced into one change on his bench - which has a 6:2 split - with Jacopo Trulla named among the replacements in place of the injured Simone Gesi
Italy: Tommaso Allan; Ange Capuozzo, Juan Ignacio Brex, Tommaso Menoncello, Monty Ioane; Paolo Garbisi, Martin Page-Relo; Danilo Fischetti, Giacomo Nicotera, Simone Ferrari; Niccolo Cannone, Federico Ruzza; Seb Negri, Michele Lamaro (capt), Lorenzo Cannone
Replacements: Gianmarco Lucchesi, Luca Rizzoli, Marco Riccioni, Dino Lamb, Manuel Zuliani, Ross Vintcent, Alessandro Garbisi, Jacopo Trulla
Wales: Liam Williams; Tom Rogers, Nick Tompkins, Eddie James, Josh Adams; Ben Thomas, Tomos Williams; Gareth Thomas, Evan Lloyd, Henry Thomas; Will Rowlands, Dafydd Jenkins; James Botham, Jac Morgan (capt), Taulupe Falatau
Replacements: Elliot Dee, Nicky Smith, Keiron Assirati, Freddie Thomas, Aaron Wainwright, Rhodri Williams, Dan Edwards, Blair Murray
Additional reporting: PA
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