New Italy head coach Jacques Brunel has named his team to go to the Stade de France, with Castrogiovanni linking up with Andrea Lo Circero and Leonardo Ghiraldini in a front row boasting more than 200 caps between them.
Italy team (v France, Saturday)
15 Andrea Masi (Aironi Rugby)
14 Giovanbattista Venditti (Aironi Rugby)
13 Tommaso Benvenuti (Benetton Treviso)
12 Alberto Sgarbi (Benetton Treviso)
11 Luke McLean (Benetton Treviso)
10 Kristopher Burton (Benetton Treviso)
9 Edoardo Gori (Benetton Treviso)
1 Andrea Lo Cicero (Racing-Metro Paris)
2 Leonardo Ghiraldini (Benetton Treviso)
3 Martin Castrogiovanni (Leicester Tigers)
4 Cornelius Van Zyl (Benetton Treviso)
5 Quintin Geldenhuys (Aironi Rugby)
6 Alessandro Zanni (Benetton Treviso)
7 Robert Barbieri (Benetton Treviso)
8 Sergio Parisse (Stade Francais) (c)
Replacements
16 Tommaso D’Apice (Aironi Rugby)
17 Lorenzo Cittadini (Benetton Treviso)
18 Marco Bortolami (Aironi Rugby)
19 Simone Favaro (Aironi Rugby)*
20 Fabio Semenzato (Benetton Treviso)
21 Tobias Botes (Benetton Treviso)
22 Gonzalo Canale (Clermont-Auvergne)
