Key events
TRY! France 12-0 Italy (Meafou, 15)
So clinical! Off the line-out they went down the line. Ramos had a dart himself, coming to within a metre. Both centres Gailleton and Brau-Boirie did likewise. Dupont chucked an overhead pass to Drean on the right wing before moving back infield. Then, with the Italians scrambling, Dupont hit a short pass for Meafou on a good line and nhe barged over from close range. Ramos doesn’t add the extras from right of the sticks.
13 min: Ramos now nails a 50-22! Poor from Italy. Off first phases Garbisi lifts a nothing kick that Flament grabs and flings to Dupont. He then finds his 10 who lands a wonder kick that dribbles out for a French throw inside Italy’s red zone.
12 min: Ramos overcooks a kick from first receiver off the scrum and its out on the full. Italy will get the line-out in French territory on the 10m line.
11 min: This time Nicotera finds his jumper legally but the ball is lost is contact shortly after. Will be another scrum to France, between their 22 and halfway.
10 min: That was a steal from Menoncello who pinched the ball and stifled the French move. Dupont, on his 22, hoofs it out around halfway. Italy are holding their own.
9 min: Solid scrum from France after a little delay. Attissogbe joins the line but loses it in contact. Goes backwards though so France, through Gaileton, continue. Theres a steal, Zuliani has it and kicks ahead. Italy counter. Attissogbe cleans up on his own 22 and France survive a scare.
7 min: Disappointing from Nicoetera. His first throw is skew and since France contested it’ll be a change of possession. Scrum to France. They could have gone for the line-out. Curious how this goes.
6 min: LBB has it on the left wing and chips and chases and almost gets it. Ramos dictating play. Solid from France. They get the line-out as Italy went back to cover LBB’s kick. France win the ball and set about another attack in the middle of the park. OH! But Italy win a penalty on the floor. Great breakdown work from L Cannone who got over the ball in a flash.
TRY! France 7-0 Italy (Bielle-Biarrey, 4)
Eight matches in a row for LBB! That’s a Six Nations record and my goodness, he is simply unreal! So quick. It was from broken play, Dupont got hold of a loose ball and swifly hoofed ahead. LBB exploded onto the ball, blitzing the covering defence and dotted down. Ramos slots the extras. I think it’s fair to call the French winger a cheat code.
3 min: Italy put a high kick on Attisogbe who doesn;t hold on but the bounce is kind and France keep possesion. Until it’s ripped away and the Italians attack down the left. A big hit from Drean stops momentum. Italy forced back to their 22 and they run it. Capuozzo dances. Energetic start from both teams.
1 min: Capuozzo wins the ball and Italy turn possession. They kick long and France have it back. Dupont, from his 22, kicks as well. Both teams feeling each other out early.
Strange to see Italy in red.
Italian rugby federation (FIR) explained: “The jersey is entirely in ‘ Garibaldi Red ‘, a color reminiscent of the jackets worn by Garibaldi’s soldiers and which has become synonymous with values such as heroism and indomitable spirit, which the Italian athletes perfectly embody on the pitch.”
A reminder that both teams compete for the Giuseppe Garibaldi Trophy, name after the revolutionary who helped forge the unified nation of Italy.
Righto, Garbisi in red kicks off and away we go!
Anthems time.
Is this the best combination of national anthems in our sport?
The players are getting ready to leave the tunnel as we switch over to the commentary on ITV.
This might not be in Paris, but it still looks like the centre of the world.
If I’ve said it once I’ve said it a thousand times, no other nation, even South Africa or New Zealand, put on a show at the rugby like the French do. They just make it feel so epic!
Jalibert is injured!
Bad news for the mercurial 10.
Although it’s hardly a downgrade as Ramos, who has found himself at first receiver this campaign, slots in at 10.
The wonderful Attissogbe shifts fullback (very keen to see how he gets on there) and Dréan comes on at 14.
Did I mention French rugby has deep pockets?
In the last five games between these teams, the team that has scored the first try has won just once.
Slightly warped as France have won four of those, with that aforementioned draw, but it shows that registering the first try doesn’t guarantee success.
Oh, and there are some World Rugby ranking points on offer.
France sits third on the charts, while Italy are in 10th.
Not that it counts for much, but after 51 Tests, France have a 47-3 record against the Italians with just one draw between them.
That came two years ago when Paolo Garbisi hit the post with the last kick of the match as the teams shared the spoils after a 13-13 stalemate.
I covered the MBM in that game. Was a belter. Fingers crossed we get another one.
This might be the first real test of France’s scrum
The Italians dominated both the Scottish and Irish packs and are a formidable force in the set piece.
Danilo Fischetti is one of the form props in the game. But he’s not just a battering ram. He’s pretty handy in the loose too and has made 15 carries this year for more post-contact metres (28) than any other prop.
Some reading on yesterday’s action while we gear up for this one:
If the Opta supercomputer is to be believed, this is as good as over before its started.
The machine that works in mysterious ways informs me that France have a 92.2% chance of winning with a predicted score of 41-18.
Sounds about right to me.
I’ve had a shocker.
As reader Gavin Daly points out, “‘The game is being played in Lille!”
My apologies. That’s corrected.
I hope no travelling fan made the same me!
Italy team
The lightning feet of Ange Capuozzo returns after a spell out with injury while Italy starts with the same pack that featured in Dublin last Saturday, with Michele Lamaro captaining the side from blind-side flanker.
Capuozzo slots in at fullback, replacing Lorenzo Pani who misses out on the match-day 23 entirely. That’s the only change to the starting XV from last week.
A bunch of regulars are still missing, including Ignacio Brex who remains unavailable for family reasons.
Italy: 15 Ange Capuozzo, 14 Louis Lynagh, 13 Tommaso Menoncello, 12 Leonardo Marin, 11 Monty Ioane, 10 Paolo Garbisi, 9 Alessandro Fusco, 1 Danilo Fischetti, 2 Giacomo Nicotera, 3 Simone Ferrari, 4 Niccolo Cannone, 5 Andrea Zambonin, 6 Michele Lamaro, 7 Manuel Zuliani, 8 Lorenzo Cannone.
Replacements: 16 Pablo Dimcheff, 17 Mirco Spagnolo, 18 Giosue Zilocchi, 19 Federico Ruzza, 20 Riccardo Favretto, 21 David Odiase, 22 Alessandro Garbisi, 23 Paolo Odogwu.
France team
Fabian Galthie has named an entirely new second row and not dropped an ounce of quality.
Those are some deep pockets the French coach has and he’s reached down and plucked out Thibaud Flament and Emmanuel Meafou to replace Charles Ollivon and Mickael Guillard, both of whom drop to the bench. More heft, less jazz then.
It’s the same backline that has done the business so far as Antoine Dupont and Matthieu Jalibert continue to forge the most exciting halfback combo in the game.
On the bench, Peato Mauvaka, Georges-Henri Colombe and Pierre-Louis Barassi come in for Maxime Lamothe, Regis Montagne and Noah Nene.
France: 15 Thomas Ramos, 14 Theo Attissogbe, 13 Emilien Gailleton, 12 Fabien Brau-Boirie, 11 Louis Bielle-Biarrey, 10 Matthieu Jalibert, 9 Antoine Dupont, 1 Jean-Baptiste Gros, 2 Julien Marchand, 3 Dorian Aldegheri, 4 Thibaud Flament, 5 Emmanuel Meafou, 6 Francois Cros, 7 Oscar Jegou, 8 Anthony Jelonch.
Replacements: 16 Peato Mauvaka, 17 Rodrigue Neti, 18 Georges-Henri Colombe, 19 Charles Ollivon, 20 Mickael Guillard, 21 Lenni Nouchi, 22 Baptiste Serin, 23 Pierre-Louis Barassi.
Preamble
Daniel Gallan
It’s already been a weekend of shocks. Not necessarily in terms of results. After all, Ireland are a side still capable of mixing it with the big boys of world rugby and you’d expect Scotland to have the measure of a struggling Welsh outfit.
But did anyone see the shellacking handed out to England on their own patch? And what about the Welsh? Did anyone really predict that they’d be leading right til the 75th minute?
If we can take anything from Saturday’s action its that we can’t take anything for granted. France should romp to victory. They are, for my money, comfortably the second best team in the world and overwhelming favourites to secure a grand slam.
But Italy are no mugs. They’re well coached, tenacious on defence, adventurous on attack and have more than a handful of genuine superstars.
Don’t be too surprised if the visitors in red provide one more shock before we close out the weekend.
Kick-off at 3:10pm in Lille (4:10pm local time).
Teams and updates to come.
