Can Italy upset the imperious Morgan Parra? © Getty Images

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Lievremont taking nothing for granted

Matches France 46 - 20 Italy

Players/Officials Marc Andreu | Martin Castrogiovanni | Marc Lievremont | Nick Mallett | David Marty

Tournaments/Tours Six Nations

Teams France | Italy

France's Grand Slam campaign returns to Paris this weekend as Italy become the latest side to attempt to derail Les Bleus' charge.

Sunday's showdown pits the tournament's outstanding side against a team pegged at the start of the campaign as no-hopers, but events in Rome over the past two rounds will have placed France on alert as to the challenge awaiting them from Nick Mallett's Azzurri.

England were run close before Scotland found out the hard way that nothing can be taken for granted at the Stadio Flaminio. France enter the game as overwhelming favourites to set up a Grand Slam showdown with England in the final round and the manner in which they conduct themselves will tell a great deal about their credentials.

Wales' thrilling, if doomed, comeback in Cardiff two weeks ago set alarm bells ringing for the home camp just as their demolition of reigning champions Ireland in round two had put their rivals on notice.

After snaffling two interception tries to lead 20-0 at half-time, France lost the second-half 20-6 and were unable to exert the dominance that their suffocating blitz defence had provided in the opening exchanges. They have thus far been the standout side as they search for their first clean-sweep since 2004 and any hint of their notorious inconsistency has been pounced upon as a portent of doom.

Italy lack the cutting edge of Wales out wide but they do possess granite determination and a renewed vein of confidence after scoring a well executed try against the Scots. Whether they possess the belief to challenge for 80 minutes in the grand surroundings of the Stade de France remains to be seen, but they will be well aware of their capabilities.

Their efforts will again stem from their excellent back-row unit, who comprehensively outplayed the much-vaunted Scottish trio of Kelly Brown, John Barclay and Johnnie Beattie. The defensive capabilities of Mauro Bergamasco, Josh Sole and Alessandro Zanni will again be vital, as will the midfield cover defence of Gonazalos Garcia and Canale.

The worry for the visitors is undoubtedly the balance that France possess throughout their side. In Imanol Harinordoquy they have the most effective ball-carrier in the northern hemisphere at No.8 while Thierry Dusautoir's aggression in the tackle is matched by his flanker partner Julien Bonnaire's poise and skills both in the lineout and the loose.

Morgan Parra and Francois Trinh-Duc have been imperious throughout but can expect a barrage from the Italian loose trio and scrum-half Tito Tebaldi. Richie Rees' aggressive display at scrum-half for Wales showed that Parra can be riled and Trinh-Duc was replaced by Frederic Michalak with the game in the balance.

There is less bulk about the French backline and Italy will not have to face Mathieu Bastareaud from the opening whistle, the in-form Stade Francais centre taking a place on the bench after a week spent recovering from a knock. Perpignan's David Marty is drafted into midfield as a result, with Castres' Marc Andreu making his first Test start on the wing in place of Clermont's bullish Julien Malzieu. A long-term injury to Michalak has opened the door to Dimitri Yachvili and the Biarritz scrum-half makes his long-awaited international comeback on the bench.

Italy are unchanged, with Craig Gower partnering the lively Tebaldi at halfback. Up front there is likely to be a fearsome battle as Martin Castrogiovanni goes up against French loose-head Thomas Domingo and Perpignan's Nicolas Mas eyes the experienced Salvatore Perugini. Skipper and hooker Leonardo Ghiraldini will need to dismiss some shaky lineout work in previous games and is likely to be given a tough time by Bonnaire and his Clermont team-mate Julien Pierre.

France have no room for error and will be confident of completing step four of five in their search for the Grand Chelem. It's an uphill battle for Italy but as they've shown in recent weeks, it's a challenge they won't take sitting down.

France: C Poitrenaud (Toulouse); M Andreu (Castres), D Marty (Perpignan), Y Jauzion (Toulouse), A Palisson (Brive); F Trinh-Duc (Montpellier), M Parra (Clermont Auvergne); T Domingo (Clermont Auvergne), W Servat (Toulouse), N Mas (Perpignan) L Nallet (Racing Metro), J Pierre (Clermont Auvergne) T Dusautoir (Toulouse, captain), J Bonnaire (Clermont Auvergne), I Harinordoquy (Biarritz)

Replacements: D Szarzewski (Stade Francais), J-B Poux (Toulouse), S Chabal (Racing Metro), A Lapandry (Clermont Auvergne), D Yachvili (Biarritz), M Bastareaud (Stade Francais), J Malzieu (Clermont Auvergne)

Italy: L McLean (Benetton Treviso); A Masi (Racing Metro), G Canale (Clermont), G Garcia (Treviso), Mirco Bergamasco (Stade Francais); C Gower (Bayonne), T Tebaldi (Parma); S Perugini (Bayonne), L Ghiraldini (Treviso), M Castrogiovanni (Leicester), Q Geldenhuys (Viadana), M Bortolami (Gloucester), J Sole (Viadana), Mauro Bergamasco (Stade Francais), A Zanni (Treviso)

Replacements: F Ongaro (Saracens), M Aguero (Saracens), C Antonio Del Fava (Viadana), P Derbyshire (Padova), P Canavosio (Viadana), R Bocchino (Rovigo), K Robertson (Viadana).

Referee: Alan Lewis (Ire)

Assistant referees: Marius Jonker (SA), Stuart Terheege (Eng)

Television Match Official: Graham Hughes (Eng)