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PARIS - France have made eight changes and called up five newcomers in a 22-man squad for the Six Nations match against Italy on March 9 at the Stade de France.
"Our motivation was to continue to test new players, to keep on widening our group of players," coach Marc Lievremont told a news conference.
The five new players are prop Fabien Barcella, who is 24, hooker Guillem Guirado (22), flanker Ibrahim Diarra (24), halfback Julien Tomas (22) and centre Yann David (19).
"They are players we have been following since the start and who have confirmed their worth game after game with their clubs", Lievremont said.
Among the three other changes from the squad selected for Saturday's 24-13 defeat by England, Lievremont recalled centre Yannick Jauzion and backrower Imanol Harinordoquy, who are 29 and 28 and have 50 and 46 caps respectively.
Wing Julien Malzieu, who made his debut against Scotland, was the final change for the Italy match.
"Yannick was injured at the beginning of the championship, Imanol was out of form and Julien injured himself against Scotland. We think they deserve another chance," Lievremont said.
Out go prop Lionel Faure, hooker William Servat, flankers Julien Bonnaire and Thierry Dusautoir, first five-eighths David Skrela, centre David Marty, fullback Cedric Heymans and halfback Morgan Parra, described as exceptional by Lievremont after the England game.
"All the players have been told that an omission would not be a punishment," said Lievremont whose task is to rebuild France's team and erase the memories of their World Cup semifinal exit on home soil under Bernard Laporte.
"There are more players who are interesting us but we also wanted to keep a backbone, a balance among newcomers and experienced players," he added.
The France coach denied he was giving up their last chance to retain the Six Nations title and running the risk of losing against Italy.
"We are not giving the championship nor the Italy game away," he said. "A defeat is always painful and we play all the games to win with a team that we think highly competitive."
France squad
Backs: Dimitri Yachvili, Julien Tomas, Francois Trinh-Duc, Yannick Jauzion, Yann David, Damien Traille, Vincent Clerc, Julien Malzieu, Aurelien Rougerie, Anthony Floch.
Forwards: Fabien Barcella, Jean-Baptiste Poux, Nicolas Mas, Guillem Guirado, Dimitri Szarzewski, Pascal Pape, Jerome Thion, Lionel Nallet, Ibrahim Diarra, Imanol Harinordoquy, Fulgence Ouedraogo, Louis Picamoles.
- REUTERS
