British and Irish Lions

France back-row forward Sebastien Chabal and scrum-half Mathieu Barrau have pulled out of the RBS 6 Nations clash with Italy on Sunday with ankle injuries sustained at the weekend in the Top 16 competition.

Barrau, who plays for Agen and received his first call-up for the 15-12 defeat to Ireland on March 8, will be replaced by Stade Toulousain's Jean-Baptiste Elissade, who last appeared for the national side in 2000.

Chabal's successor will be known on Tuesday as Bernard Laporte and his men are gathering for training at Marcoussis.

Patrick Tabacco (Stade Francais), Jean Bouilhou (Stade Toulousain) or Julien Frier (Grenoble) are tipped to get into the 22-man group.

France, whose title hopes were swept away by their latest defeat to Grand Slam contenders Ireland, need a win in Rome to restore their credibility seven months before the World Cup.

Qantas Wallabies head coach Robbie Deans says he picked his Test team for Saturday's opening international based on how his side plans to play rather than on what The British & Irish Lions will bring to the table.

Warren Gatland says he and his British & Irish Lions Test team are fully aware of the size of the threat posed by Qantas Wallabies wing Israel Folau this weekend.