How they match up: Simon Lewis looks at the key battles

France: Not a vintage pack performance against the robust Azzurri scrum and loosehead Vincent Debaty and hooker William Servat have been replaced this week by Jean-Baptiste Poux, their World Cup starter, and Dimitri Szarzewski. The changes don’t weaken this unit and even by last week’s showing, the threat should not be underestimated, as France scored their second try against Italy off stolen scrum ball, Louis Picamoles launching off the base to set up Julien Malzieu.

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