Dusautoir back for France

Marcoussis - Former captain Thierry Dusautoir will make his return when France face Italy in Rome in their Six Nations opener on Sunday, manager Philippe Saint-Andre said on Friday.

Flanker Dusautoir was named in the starting line up for the first time since last year's tournament after missing the June and November test series.

Dusautoir, the 2011 IRB world player of the year, has captained the team since 2009 but was rested for France's tour of Argentina in June then missed the November Tests, while Pascal Pape successfully replaced him in the role.

Maxime Machenaud's fine performances in France's three November Test wins over Australia, Argentina and Samoa earned him another start at scrumhalf, alongside Frederic Michalak.

Teams:

Italy:

TBA

France:

15-Yoann Huget, 14-Wesley Fofana, 13-Florian Fritz, 12-Maxime Mermoz, 11-Benjamin Fall, 10-Frederic Michalak, 9-Maxime Machenaud, 8-Louis Picamoles, 7-Thierry Dusautoir, 6-Fulgence Ouedraogo, 5-Yoann Maestri, 4-Pascal Pape (captain), 3-Nicolas Mas, 2-Dimitri Szarzewski, 1-Yannick Forestier.

Replacements: 16-Benjamin Kayser, 17-Vincent Debaty, 18-Luc Ducalcon, 19-Romain Taofifenua, 20-Damien Chouly, 21-Morgan Parra, 22-François Trinh-Duc, 23-Mathieu Bastareaud.