A lot has changed since that momentous day in the Eternal City, Les Bleus came within two points of a first World Cup, the Azzurri crashed out in the group stages, and both sides have new coaches in place.

Philippe Saint-André has replaced maverick Marc Lièvremont in charge of France while Nick Mallett's four-year reign in charge of Italy came to an end, former Perpignan boss Jacques Brunel taking the reins.

However in terms of selection both Saint-André and Brunel have chosen to stick with the tried and tested, 19 of the 30 who started last year again in action at the Stade de France on Saturday.

Les Bleus have evolved a little in the last 12 months, Sebastien Chabal, Yannick Jauzion and Sylvain Marconnet will almost certainly not play for France again, while Clermont's Wesley Fofana is the bright young hope in the midfield.

And skipper Thierry Dusautoir, who picked up the IRB World Player of the Year award for his displays in 2011, admits an opening victory is imperative for France.

"This is not the Italy of a few years ago. Last year we lost to them but it was only logical after the progress they have made," said Dusautoir.

"We are going to approach this match knowing how important it is to win the first game, and for a win in Paris in front of our supporters.

"We reached the World Cup final well aware that there were several areas needing improvement.

"With regard to [Philippe Saint-Andre], it is too early to tell. The emphasis has been placed on communication, to get the players to express their views, to say what they think.

"There have been lots of meetings, collectively as well as individually, to sort out the in-house rules."

For Italy Brunel's biggest challenge will be to find the solution to half-back problem which has plagued them since the retirements of Diego Dominguez and current backs coach Alessandro Troncon.

In the City of Lights, Treviso pair Edoardo Gori and Kris Burton have been entrusted with that task, and Brunel admits he has placed a lot of responsibility to the young scrum-half.

"That's the decision for this match but the spirit we want in this position is a player who is quick getting to the breakdown to speed up play," said Brunel who worked under former Les Bleus coach Bernard Laporte for seven years.

"Gori has this. Last year he had a different role nearer to the breakdown, he had a lot of work to do and it was difficult to get this speed.

"Our mission is to give more confidence to the backs and a different balance to the team."

And Gori admits he is enjoying the chance to work under Brunel, revealing that the Azzurri are likely to offer more of an attacking threat than in previous years.

"It will be very difficult to show everything against France but we'll try," added Gori.

"Mallett was very concentrated on defence, which of course was one of our strengths last year, but without an attack you can't win so Jacques is concentrating more on attack.

"We'll see how it goes."