Reuters
Twickenham, England

Wesley Fofana has not yet recovered from a thigh injury with Alexandre Dumoulin starting at inside centre in a France side with two changes for their Rugby World Cup match Pool D opener against Italy.
Coach Philippe Saint-Andre also picked lock Yoann Maestri, who has recovered from a rib injury, when he named his side on Thursday with two changes from the XV that started the 19-16 win over Scotland in their final warm-up at the Stade de France in Paris on September 5.
Alexandre Flanquart, who partnered veteran Pascal Pape in the second row against the Scots, drops down to the bench which is where Dumoulin started that test before replacing Fofana during the first half when he was injured. “I need players who are 100 percent fit and Wesley isn’t quite, even if he feels good, and we’ll see about the next match (against Romania) after Saturday’s night’s match,” Saint-Andre said.
Experienced hooker Dmitri Szarzewski is not even on the bench but Saint-Andre expects him to be fit to face Romania at London’s Olympic Stadium on Wednesday.
Saint-Andre told a news conference at Twickenham Stadium, where hosts England open the tournament against Fiji in Pool A today, that he was happy with the 50 minutes Dumoulin and Mathieu Bastareaud played in midfield against Scotland plus their many practices together.
“We have the strength of Mathieu allied to Alex’s technique,” he said. Facing Italy without their talismanic captain Sergio Parisse did not change France’s attitude going into the game and Saint-Andre pointed out that his side were having to do without Fofana. “We just think of ourselves and our game. We know the Italians and we saw them play a quality match against Wales,” he added, referring to Italy’s final warm-up, a 23-19 defeat at the Millennium Stadium two weeks ago.

Team: 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-Yoann Maestri, 4-Pascal Pape, 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.