Lievremont shakes up France squad

MARCOUSSIS, France -- France have made eight changes to the team that were overpowered by England last Saturday for their Six Nations Championship match against Italy at the Stade de France on March 9.

Coach Marc Lievremont has given five more players their first chance at international rugby.

"We're continuing on with our logic of building up the squad which we've been doing over the last four months," he said.

He gave first call-ups to Auch prop Fabien Barcella, Perpignan hooker Guilhem Guirado and Montauban backrower Ibrahim Diarra in the 12-strong group of forwards.

Also recalled in the pack is veteran Biarritz No 8 Imanol Harinordoquy at the expense of Julien Bonnaire and Thierry Dusautoir, who both featured in France's loss to England.

The backs include debutants 22-year-old Montpellier scrum-half Julien Tomas and Bourgoin center Yann David, who is 19.

Veteran Toulouse midfielder Yannick Jauzion makes his reappearance in the squad following some impressive displays with his club, while Clermont winger Julien Malzieu is back from injury.

Lievremont said that the selection of the international newcomers "might surprise some initially, but these are players who we've been following, who have interested us and whom we wanted to see.

"We wanted to continue to open up the squad. Some have already played for the France team and their club performances seemed good to us.

"We also wanted to keep the backbone from the three first matches and a balance among the positions and the athletic qualities demanded," he said.

Forwards: Fabien Barcella (Auch), Jean-Baptiste Poux (Toulouse), Nicolas Mas (Perpignan), Guilhem Guirado (Perpignan), Dimitri Szarzewski (Stade Francais), Lionel Nallet (Castres), Jerome Thion (Biarritz), Pascal Pape (Stade Francais), Ibrahim Diarra (Montauban), Louis Picamoles (Montpellier), Fulgence Ouedraogo (Montpellier), Imanol Harinordoquy (Biarritz)

Backs: Dimitri Yachvili (Biarritz), Julien Tomas (Montpellier), Francois Trinh-Duc (Montpellier), Yannick Jauzion (Toulouse), Damien Traille (Biarritz), Yann David (Bourgoin), Julien Malzieu (Clermont), Anthony Floch (Clermont), Aurelien Rougerie (Clermont), Vincent Clerc (Toulouse)

Meanwhile, Italy flanker Mauro Bergamasco has been banned for 13 weeks after a disciplinary panel here found him guilty of gouging the eye of Wales full-back Lee Byrne during the Azzurri's 47-8 Six Nations defeat in Cardiff last weekend. E-mail to a friend