France prepared for Storm Ciara ahead of Italy clash

France captain Charles Ollivon said on Saturday that forecast hurricane-strength winds would have an impact on his side's tactics for this weekend's Six Nations match against Italy in Paris.

Storm Ciara could bring gusts of more than 80 kilometres an hour on Sunday for both sides' second match in this year's tournament.

Les Bleus opened their campaign with an impressive 24-17 win over England last Sunday at the Stade de France and Italy were hammered 42-0 by Grand Slam champions Wales.

"There might be changes with the set-pieces and in open play but in all cases we'll see because last week they said there would be heavy rain for the whole match even it wasn't necessarily the case," 26-year-old Ollivon said.

"We have prepared for all the scenarios but remained focused, no matter the weather it's going to be difficult," he added.

The French Rugby Federation and local government officials told AFP earlier in the day game would go ahead as planned.

Ollivon, who will lead his country for just the second time, said he was aware of his team's tag as favourites against the Azzurri who are on a 23-match winless streak in the competition.

"The most important thing is to say we are certainly conscious about the fact that we are possibly more favourites than last week, it's even a certainty," he said.

"We have to be conscious of that.

"We have to know how to act in the right way to put in place the right tools for the match. We can't not talk about it," he added.