France have named three uncapped players in their starting line-up for Sunday's Six Nations game against Italy at the Stade de France.

The newcomers are centre Yann David, 19, prop Fabien Barcella and flanker Ibrahim Diarra, who are both 24.

Coach Marc Lievremont also handed a first start to full-back Anthony Floch, who won his first cap as a late replacement in France's 24-13 defeat to England on Feb. 23.

He recalled centre Yannick Jauzion who missed the first three games of the championship because of a hand injury.

Only five players who started the game lost 24-13 to England on Feb. 23 will cross the white line of the Stade de France.

"It's not an experimental team," said coach Marc Lievremont who has now called on 37 players since his appointment after the 2007 World Cup.

"All the players we picked deserve their selection. To be honest, it took us less time to select the team than it did before the England game."

Two more uncapped players, hooker Guilhem Guirado and scrum-half Julien Tomas will be on the bench.

Both were members of the France team that won the under-21 World Cup in 2006 along with fly-half Francois Trinh-Duc and flanker Fulgence Ouedraogo, who will both win their fourth caps on Sunday.

The 24-year-old Floch will form, with wings Aurelien Rougerie and Julien Malzieu, a back-three of players from the same Clermont-Auvergne club.

Dimitri Yachvili, who is 27 and has 34 caps, was preferred at scrum-half ahead of Tomas.

With two wins and a defeat, holders France are currently third on four points along with Ireland and England.

Wales lead the way on six while Italy and Scotland are still to get off the mark.

"We can not say that we are looking for comfort but we'll field a well-balanced team," Lievremont said.

"One could say that Sunday's match is a must-win game. It's obvious we'll aim at a win with style and a good score."

Team: 15-Anthony Floch, 14-Aurelien Rougerie, 13-Yannick Jauzion, 12-Yann David, 11-Julien Malzieu, 10-Francis Trinh-Duc, 9-Dimitri Yachvili; 8-Louis Picamoles, 7-Fulgence Ouedraogo, 6-Ibrahim Diarra, 5-Jerome Thion, 4-Lionel Nallet (capt), 3-Nicolas Mas, 2-Dimitri Szarzewski, 1-Fabien Barcella.

Replacements: 16-Guilhem Guirado, 17-Jean-Baptiste Poux, 18-Arnaud Mela, 19-Julien Bonnaire, 20-Julien Tomas, 21-Damien Traille, 22-Vincent Clerc.

Reuters