Preview: France v Italy

Since finishing as runners-up in the last World Cup France have been incredibly erratic under coach Philippe Saint-Andre who will make way for Guy Noves after the tournament, while Italy coach Jacques Brunel has been accused of losing the Azzurri dressing room by a former player.

Both teams will also be missing key players, with Italian captain Sergio Parisse and French centre Wesley Fofana both sidelined through injury.

Anything but a convincing victory over the Italians will be considered yet another below par performance for France and hardly build confidence that they can beat Pool D favourites Six Nations champions Ireland, a side that Saint-Andre has yet to get the better of in four meetings.

Saint-Andre has tried to ease the pressure on his players by telling them to go out and enjoy themselves.

"I have lined-up my best team at the moment, the most in form," said Saint-Andre, who comes into the game on the back of a rare pair of successive wins in their warm-up games against England and Scotland.

"We have been preparing for this since July 6 and the players are really champing at the bit to get going.

"I feel that they are in a good place. But what I have told them is it is crucial not to play the game inside their heads before it takes place on Saturday.

"What is important is that the players don't put too much pressure on themselves.

"That they run out onto the pitch with a smile on their faces. It is a match of rugby with a lot of extras thrown in. More spectators, more pressure, more press… But it remains just a rugby match."

Saint-Andre has been criticised for not sticking with a regular halfback partnership throughout his reign, but belatedly he appears to have fixed that as he lines up Toulon duo, the mercurial veteran Frederic Michalak and scrumhalf Sebastien Tillous-Borde for the third successive match.

Saint-Andre's woes pale in comparison to those of his compatriot and Italy coach Brunel, who aside from losing Parisse for the match – he has not yet recovered sufficiently from an operation last week – has been assailed by former Italy player Mirco Bergamasco over losing the dressing-room.

"He has failed to create a group, both on and off the pitch," said Bergamasco earlier this week.

"He usually only refers to four or five players and forgets the rest. And that's not enough when there are 31 (players).

"When one of these four or five players is missing, the squad loses belief and collapses," added Bergamasco, whose brother Mauro tellingly perhaps did not make the matchday squad when Brunel announced the team a day after Mirco's remarks.

Brunel, who as forwards coach under Bernard Laporte was part of the French set-up that reached successive World Cup semifinals in 2003 and 2007, pushed all that aside and said his team had the ability to match the best in the world.  

"I came to Italy in 2011 with the goal of turning the team into one that could rival the best in the world," said the 61-year-old.

"It has not happened all the time, it has on some occasions, but not often enough to my liking.

"But the final goal was to reach the World Cup quarterfinals (which would be the first time ever). It is still possible, despite the results of late (they lost all their warm-up games, twice to Scotland and once to Wales), which was not what we wished for."

Players to watch:

For France: South African-born fullback Scott Spedding should be solid at the back and look to create space for the dangerous Yoann Huget. Chunky Mathieu Bastareaud should prove a handful in midfield but the key backline player will be experience flyhalf Frederic Michalak. Big Louis Picamoles will impose himself physically and captain Thierry Dusautoir will want to lead from the front like he did at the last World Cup while another leader will be lock Pascal Pape.

For Italy: Luke McLean should give Italy some stability at fullback with legend Andrea Masi slotting in at inside centre where he will hopefully get his hands on the ball more often. Samuela Vunisa will take the French on physically alongside South African-born lock Quintin Geldenhuys. In the front row the experienced Martin Castrogiovanni and captain Leonardo Ghiraldini will look to stamp their authority in the set-pieces.

Head to head: Luke McLean and Scott Spedding should have an intriguing tactical battle and Giovanbattista Venditti will have his hands full handling Yoann Huget out wide. Alexandre Dumoulin will hope to measure up to the experienced Andrea Masi and flyhalves Tommaso Allan and Frederic Michalak will be the men expected to ignite the players outside them. In the forwards it should be a titanic battle between Louis Picamoles and Samuela Vunisa, Quinrin Geldenhuys will have his work cut out for him against Pascal Pape and French loosehead Eddy Ben Arous will have it all to prove at scrum-time up against Martin Castrogiovanni.

Recent results:

2015: France won 29-0 in Rome

2014: France won 30-10 in Paris

2013: Italy won 23-18 in Rome

2012: France won 30-12 in Paris

2011: Italy won 22-21 in Rome

2010: France won 46-20 in Paris

2009: France won 50-8 in Rome

2008: France won 25-13 in Paris

2007: France won 39-3 in Rome

2006: France won 37-12 in Paris

2005: France won 56-13 in Rome

Prediction: Italy should not be written off and could well cause an upset, but France have built some good momentum in their warm-up matches and should be able to secure a win by about 10 points.

Teams:

Italy: 15 Luke McLean, 14 Leonardo Sarto, 13 Hugo Campagnaro, 12 Andrea Masi, 11 Giovanbattista Venditti, 10 Tommaso Allan, 9 Edoardo Gori, 8 Samuela Vunisa, 7 Francesco Minto, 6 Alessandro Zanni, 5 Josh Furno, 4 Quintin Geldenhuys, 3 Martin Castrogiovanni, 2 Leonardo Ghiraldini (captain), 1 Matias Aguero.

Replacements: 16 Andrea Manici, 17 Michele Rizzo, 18 Lorenzo Cittadini, 19 Valerio Bernabo, 20 Simone Favaro, 21 Guglielmo Palazzani, 22 Carlo Canna, 23 Enrico Bacchin.

France: 15 Scott Spedding, 14 Yoann Huget, 13 Mathieu Bastareaud, 12 Alexandre Dumoulin, 11 Noa Nakaitaci, 10 Frederic Michalak, 9 Sebastien Tillous-Borde, 8 Louis Picamoles, 7 Damien Chouly, 6 Thierry Dusautoir (captain), 5 Pascal Pape, 4 Yoann Maestri, 3 Rabah Slimani, 2 Guilhem Guirado, 1 Eddy Ben Arous.

Replacements: 16 Benjamin Kayser, 17 Vincent Debaty, 18 Nicolas Mas, 19 Bernard Le Roux, 20 Alexandre Flanquart, 21 Morgan Parra, 22 Remi Tales, 23 Gael Fickou.

Date: Saturday, September 19

Venue: Twickenham, London

Kick-off: 20.00 (19.00 GMT: 21.00 Italian and French Time)

Predicted weather: Scattered clouds but mostly sunny, high of 19, 10% chance of rain

Referee: Craig Joubert (South Africa)

Assistant referees: John Lacey (Ireland), Stuart Berry (South Africa)

TMO: Shaun Veldsman (South Africa)