Italy Head coach Crowley, Varney, Ruzza, Brex & Ceccarelli discuss team announcement

Kieran Crowley, head coach 

On how he and the coaches have looked to move the team forwards after the 96-17 defeat by New Zealand:

"If I look at last week, on reflection, on my behalf we lost the process. We looked more at the outcome rather than the process. That was a disappointing factor from my perspective. This week we have gone back to process. 

"We said to the guys that one game doesn't define you, just like one bad article doesn't define a reporter, or one good article doesn't define you. It's exactly the same in sport, one bad performance doesn't define you. If you have three, four, five of them, then that defines you. 

"We gave up 10 tries to set-plays, something like that, which is something we've never done before. 

"Your confidence is knocked and how do you regain that? Well, by getting back to the process and having self-belief. And that's easy to say, we will see how we've done on Friday night."

On whether he was particularly concerned by the way in which things unravelled versus New Zealand:

"Yeah, definitely. As I said, I think we got focused on outcome. We got away from the process. Guys tried to cover other guys, tried to fix things. You are playing one of the best teams in the world and when suddenly things start going wrong like that, things can go against you, the bounce of the ball and all of that. 

"So yeah, I was very concerned the way it unravelled. But we've moved on and we are looking forward to a chance this week to at least get a performance that has a lot more respectability."

On the five personnel and three positional changes he has made: 

"(Giacomo) Nicotera (starting hooker versus New Zealand) is ruled out through injury so (Hame) Faiva starts, (Marco) Manfredi comes in on the bench. (Danilo) Fischetti (starting loose-head prop versus New Zealand) is injured, so (Simone) Ferrari comes in there. And then we made a decision around tight-head prop with (Pietro) Ceccarelli starting. 

"As far as lock goes, Dino Lamb in injured, so was unavailable for selection. 

"And then if you go into the backs, we have decided for this particular game we wanted two playmakers at 10 and 12. The way the French play gives us an opportunity to put (Ange) Capuozzo back at full-back and bring in (Pierre) Bruno at wing."

On moving Ferrari, normally a tight-head prop, to loose-head prop:

"Simone has played a lot of loose-head. He is a very good scrummaging prop. We believe we need to have that stability around there. We just place him for this particular game a little bit ahead of the others.

"We also had to look at havles of the game. Front-row boys only play 45-50 minutes of the game generally so it was looking at a combination that would be more effective for the team moving through into the second half."

On what he is expecting from Ange Capuozzo at full-back:

"That he catches the ball, that he runs. That he provides some opportunities for us. Ange is an X-factor player. France have a long kicking game, so he will get some opportunities to build some attacks from back there.

"The rest of the team will need to get around him because they have a kicking game where they kick and then they leave four players upfield and they try to smother you. You kick back and they kick again and they try to smother you. So, you've got to have a plan to try and combat that. 

"But he's only one of the back three and one of the 15, the rest of the guys will contribute massively to his performance."

On choosing a five-three forwards-backs split on the bench as opposed to his usual six-two: 

"One of the reasons for that is we had a lot of players beaten up last week. We've had a number of players who haven't trained very much this week because of recovery. We felt with the injuries etc we would like to have more coverage, better coverage with the five-three split."

Stephen Varney, scrum-half 

On how the squad moved on from their performance against France through a fire ceremony: 

"We were quite devastated by our performance. Going into the week, Kieran brought us in and we needed to get our confidence back so we did this thing where we chucked our thoughts into the fire, sort of thing, and tried to forget about it and take our learnings into this week. 

"I think we have done that well and we've prepared well for the last few days in training and we're confident going into Friday.

"Basically, we just wrote our thoughts on a piece of paper and just chucked it into the fire. I think it was a good way of forgetting about it and moving on. Because I don't think that performance defined us as a team. 

"We got our confidence back from training now and hopefully we can put a good performance in on Friday." 

On the whole coaching and playing squad taking part in the fire ceremony: 

"Yeah, we're all a team. So, yep, all of us." 

On focusing on performance this week: 

"Last week we were more focused on trying to win and this week we are definitely more focused on our performance. We know if we put a good performance in that we are happy with we will definitely give France a good game and hopefully get the win.

"We look back at that game (versus France in this year's Six Nations) and we believe we can do it again and give France a really good game. We've come a long way since then as well.

"We've gained respect and credibility from the rugby world and one performance doesn't define us. I think it will be an exciting game to watch on Friday."

Federico Ruzza, second-row 

On the malfunctioning lineout: 

"We made some mistakes. Of course, I take responsibility for some of those decisions. We have prepared for this match to make sure we take the right decisions. It's important we keep hold of our ball." 

On France's heavy, strong forward pack: 

"They are a team that has a lot of strengths, they are really physical and they know how to exploit it. They have a lot of ball carriers. Their scrum is very heavy, very physical, they will try to exploit that. We need to try to impose ourselves physically in order not to give them this opportunity."

On having been one of the first names on the team sheet during head coach Crowley's reign: 

"I have had the opportunity to play a lot, there have been highs and lows. I am happy to have had all these experiences. I learned a lot. I was very lucky." 

On how the fire ceremony helped the team look ahead to the France match:

"It is important as a team to move on. Yes, we had to look back and review the match and some points where we can obviously be better. It's also important to move on for the next match and to show how good we can be. It''s important to prepare for this match in a proper way and we are." 

On the intensity in training going to a new level this week:

"There was a lot of competition. Also, there was a lot of energy, everybody wanted to do well. Yesterday's training was pretty intense. Everybody wants to be a part of this preparation, even if they are not involved in the 23."

Juan Ignacio Brex, outside-centre

On facing a very similar French team to the one Italy ran close in this year's Six Nations: 

"When you look at their team, in terms of tactics there is not a lot of difference. We need to be confident in our game and we need to grasp all of our opportunities."

On his new centre partnership with Paolo Garbisi: 

"Not a lot is changing. Paolo has played a lot there in Montpellier. What is important for me is that we have very good communication between us."

Pietro Ceccarelli, prop

On the emotion of playing against France given he lives and plays in France:

"A lot of emotions. My family is here. There is going to be even more emotions on Friday.

"I am here to contribute to the team, here to help."