France head coach Fabien Galthie has restored Thomas Ramos at outhalf and for their Six Nations fixtures against Italy in Rome on Sunday (kick-off 3pm Irish time) after Matthieu Jalibert was ruled out through illness and Romain Ntamack still suspended.'
Damian Penaud, who had a torrid handling day against England in France’s 26-25 defeat at Twickenham two weeks ago, misses out, with Theo Attissogbe starting instead on the right wing.
Leo Barre returns at fullback after missing the opening two rounds, while lock Thibaud Flament also makes his first start of the tournament after recovering from a calf injury.
Galthie’s Springbok-style 7-1 forwards/backs split on the bench leaves only scrumhalf Maxime Lucu covering the back line.
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Thomas Ramos to start at outhalf for France against Italy
“It’s tactical and linked to a very special opponent,” Galthie said of the split. “We decided to try a strategy to be ready in the key sectors in which Italy are extremely good.”
Among the replacements is flanker Anthony Jelonch, who has not played an international since the 2023 World Cup quarter-final defeat to South Africa during which he tore his ACL.
For Italy, Simone Gesi has replaced injured wing Monty Ioane, with head coach Gonzalo Quesada making two changes to the side which defeated Wales last time out.
Gesi will make his third appearance for Italy and only his second start, having missed their win over Wales due to injury having come off the bench in the Azzurri’s opening round defeat against Scotland.
Quesada’s only other change to his starting 15 sees hooker Gianmarco Lucchesi replacing Giacomo Nicotera, who drops to the bench, while Danilo Fischetti and Niccolo Cannone will both earn their 50th caps in what is Italy’s 50th meeting with France.
Last year Italy almost came away from Lille with a shock win over France, but ended up with a 13-13 draw after their late penalty hit the post when the ball fell from the tee and Paolo Garbisi was left with a handful of seconds to make the kick.
Fullback Tommaso Allan is now handling kicking duties, and was responsible for 17 of Italy’s points against Wales, leaving Garbisi free to concentrate on his outhalf role.
Mirco Spagnolo is on the bench after the prop missed the opening two games through suspension, while lock Dino Lamb is out with a shoulder problem and Riccardo Favretto is named among the replacements.
The only other change on the bench sees prop Giosue Zilocchi in for Marco Riccioni as Quesada again for the most part sticks with his tried and trusted 23.
ITALY: T Allan; A Capuozzo, J Ignacio Brex, T Menoncello, S Gesi; P Garbisi, M Page-Relo; D Fischetti, G Lucchesi, S Ferrari; N Cannone, F Ruzza; S Negri, M Lamaro (capt), L Cannone.
Replacements: G Nicotera, M Spagnolo, G Zilocchi, R Favretto, M Zuliani, R Vintcent, A Garbisi, J Trulla.
FRANCE: L Barre; T Attissogbe, P Barassi, Y Moefana, L Bielle-Biarrey; T Ramos; A Dupont (capt); J Gros, P Mauvaka, U Atonio; T Flament, M Guillard; F Cros, P Boudehent, G Alldritt.
Replacements: J Marchand, C Baille, D Aldegheri, R Taofifenua, A Roumat, O Jegou, A Jelonch, M Lucu.
