France recall experienced trio

Coach Bernard Laporte added more experience to France's team today, recalling fit-again Thomas Castaignede, Thomas Lievremont and Damien Traille for Saturday's Six Nations rugby match against Italy.

France, with hooker Raphael Ibanez and flanker Olivier Magne also returning, will field seven players over the age of 30 at the Stade de France.

"It's obviously a more experienced team but it's also a more balanced team," team manager Jo Maso told a news conference.

"The return of Castaignede will bring more vivacity to our backline and Lievremont will give us more options around the scrums than Julien Bonnaire who is new in the centre of the back row," he added.

Captain Fabien Pelous and lock Jerome Thion, who are suffering from gastro-enteritis and a calf injury respectively, have been named in the starting line-up.

"I'll be all right. I had a very bad night from Monday to Tuesday but I'm really feeling better," said Pelous.

Castaignede, who is 31 and has 47 caps, comes in at fullback. He replaces Christophe Dominici, who returns to his usual right wing position.

Lievremont takes over from Bonnaire at number eight, while Traille, a regular during the 2003 World Cup, has been selected ahead of David Marty.

Bonnaire, Marty and wing Cedric Heymans will be on the bench while flanker Remy Martin is dropped.

"It's not a sanction against our youngest players," Laporte said of the changes.

"They gave us a lot in November but they are not in top form and in a rugby game you can't provide the goods if you are not well physically.

French media blamed a lack of fitness for France's near collapse against Ireland in their last game. Cruising at 47-3, Ireland ran in four quick tries to leave the home side hanging on for a 43-31 win.

"True, we were in trouble at the end of the game but I don't know many teams able to score six tries and 43 points against Ireland," said Laporte.

"Against Italy, we have to keep what we did well for 60 minutes, be more efficient with our field kicking and keep possession."

France defeated Italy 56-13 last season in Rome and won the last encounter between the two countries at the Stade de France 25-0 in 2004.

France team:

15-Thomas Castaignede; 14-Aurelien Rougerie, 13-Florian Fritz, 12-Damien Traille, 11-Christophe Dominici; 10-Frederic Michalak, 9-Jean-Baptiste Elissalde; 8-Thomas Lievremont, 7-Olivier Magne, 6-Yannick Nyanga, 5-Jerome Thion, 4-Fabien Pelous (captain), 3-Pieter de Villiers, 2-Raphael Ibanez, 1-Olivier Milloud

Replacements: 16-Sebastien Bruno, 17-Sylvain Marconnet, 18-Lionel Nallet, 19-Julien Bonnaire, 20-Dimitri Yachvili, 21-David Marty, 22-Cedric Heymans.

- REUTERS