France, Ireland and England named unchanged sides for the last round of the Six Nations, but center Benoit Baby's second start will depend on a disciplinary hearing today.
Baby, who scored a try on debut in France's 26-19 win over Ireland last weekend, was cited for allegedly head-butting Irish captain Brian O'Driscoll. He could be suspended for up to one year.
France manager Jo Maso hoped the disciplinary panel will forgive an "error of youth."
PHOTO: AFP
"We will ask for leniency," Maso said on Tuesday. "There is no one nicer than Benoit and I will defend the man because he merits it."
As cover, France called up Damien Traille, who lost his starting place last week after injuring his foot in training.
Either Traille or uncapped David Marty would be chosen to play Italy on Saturday if Baby was suspended, said France coach Bernard Laporte.
Meanwhile, O'Driscoll will lead Ireland in a title-decider with Wales in Cardiff on Saturday.
"We didn't think about changing anyone because we played well against France," said Ireland coach Eddie O'Sullivan.
If Wales beats Ireland, it will win its first Six Nations since 1994, and first Grand Slam since 1978.
An Irish victory at Millennium Stadium could still lead to Ireland's first championship in 20 years. Ireland has finished runner-up the last two seasons.
A Welsh loss and expected French win over Italy would create a three-way tie atop the standings, and make the winner the team with the best overall points differential.
"You have to be careful about trying to win games by a certain total -- the most important thing is to win the match first," O'Sullivan said. "That would give us a Triple Crown. Then we'll see what happens after that."
France's win over Ireland kept alive its slim hopes of retaining the championship.
"We are going to Italy to win and if possible by a big score, so we can finish on a high note," Maso said. "But Wales has done what it had to do to win the Grand Slam and, if it loses, it won't be by 50 points."
He applauded O'Driscoll for asking Baby to swap shirts at the final whistle in Dublin last Saturday.
"O'Driscoll made sure his shirt would go to Baby after the match. This was a class reaction," Maso said. "Benoit was very surprised, too."
England will field the same 15 at Twickenham which beat Italy 39-7, for a meeting with Scotland, which was hammered 46-22 by Wales.
Victory over the Italians followed four straight losses, including Six Nations games against Wales, France and Ireland.
Coach Andy Robinson kept faith with scrumhalf Harry Ellis, ahead of World Cup veteran Matt Dawson.
Fullback Jason Robinson remained sidelined with a thumb injury, so No. 8 Martin Corry stayed captain.
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