Parisians still not entirely satisfied
France set up an enticing Six Nations encounter with England by dispatch Italy to the tune of 37-12 at Stade de France on Saturday -- but the scoreline flatters the error-strewn Bleus and does not convey the contribution of the ever-improving Azzurri, who, to the dismay of the home crowd, took a 12-8 lead into the break.
Commentators had suggested that France's task in this all-latin meeting was two-fold -- to bag a straight victory over the rapidly evolving Italians and to win over their own fans.
If that was the case, France come away only semi-contented -- and with the vocal disapproval of the assembled crowd ringing in their ears.
But credit must go to the home side for absorbing the immense Italian pressure before hitting back, rope-a-dope style, in the final quarter of the match.
Yet this game could have had a very different outcome had it not been for just two moments of individual brilliance, namely a sublime crossfield kick from Jean-Baptiste Elissalde that lead to France's first try and a mesmerising dance-cum-break from Thomas Castaignède that set up their second.
In a perverse reverse of France's meeting with Ireland a fortnight ago, when France let a 41-3 lead slip to 43-31 in the second period, the home side saved their best for the second half and sent their fans home with the corners of their mouths twitching into near smiles.
But the fact that they scored all five tries of the match -- through Thomas Lièvremont in the first half and Yannick Nyanga, Pieter De Villiers, Aurelien Rougerie and Frédéric Michalak after the break -- illustrated that the win was deserved for Bernard Laporte's men.
Italy had put on a massive defensive performance in the first half and forced the errors out of the fickle Frenchmen while the trusty boot of stand-off Ramiro Pez gave them the edge in terms of points.
It was Elissalde who put the first points on the board with a penalty, but then three penalties from Pez turned the score 9-3 in favour of the youngest members of the Six Nations family.
A rare moment of invention from Elissalde then created the only try of the first half for recalled No.8 Thomas Lièvremont who had a simple task of touching down in the corner after an angled kick from the scrum-half had left the Italian defence exposed.
Pez still had time to show his kicking skills with a drop-goal that ensured the Italians led 12-8 at the interval to the clear consternation of the Stade de France crowd.
Shortly after the resumption it was 12-11 as Dimitri Yachvili, who had replaced Elissalde just before the interval, reduced arrears. But the Biarritz man hit an upright with his next effort as the Italians defended their wafer-thin lead as France made a strong opening to the second half.
Pez then missed for the first time and the Italian lead remained at a single point with the game littered with handling errors from both sides.
However, when France did regain the lead it came with another touch of brilliance that had been largely absent from the match.
Italy fullback Cristian Stoica pumped a clearance towards Christophe Dominici who fed Castaignède and the Saracens star's mazy run created the opening that allowed him to offload to Nyanga who touched down in the corner for a try which -- like Lievremont's -- was not converted.
Yachvili missed another kick and then was made to look foolish as he fumbled the ball with the touchline beckoning although referee Tony Spreadbury had already halted play.
It was De Villiers's try after some extended forward pressure from France that effectively settled the match with Yachvili this time adding the extras.
Rougerie's late try, borne of expansive inter-passing, showed what Les Bleus can do when sitting on a comfortable cushions of points and raised a cheer from the team's hard-to-please onlookers.
Yachvili converted before Michalak redeem a hatful of early errors by picking his way through the defeated Italians to score under the posts.
As the Basque bands stuck up some tunes, Laporte's running debate with the fans mellowed into something resemble a lovers' tiff rather than the prelude to a divorce.
But questions still remain about this France team and the quizmasters will be wearing white.
As for Italy, another gutsy performance, another gutsy defeat. But it will surely come good for them soon -- they are too good to end this campaign with nought but the Wooden Spoon.
Man of the match: Who to pick? Not for the first time in this tournament, plenty of hot and cold was blown by both sides -- could it be to do with the change of season? Italy centre Mirco Bergamasco impressed yet again, fly-half Ramiro Pez overshadowed his illustrious opposite number, and Paul Griffen -- all blood and dreadlocks -- was his usual industrious self. Raphaël Ibañez provided the grit to France's performance whilst Jean-Baptiste Elissalde and his replacement, Dimitri Yachvili, both supplied the go-forward. Christophe Dominici had his best game in a France shirt for some time, but our man-of-the-match is Thomas Castaignède who injected moments of animated impetus each time France appeared to drift off to sleep.
Moment of the match: Elissalde's crossfield kick to Thomas Lièvremont was straight out of the top drawer -- inch perfect and given a low trajectory in order to remove the cover defence from the equation. But for that oh-la-la moment, look no further than Castaignède's break that lead to Nyanga's try.
Villain of the match: Had it not been for the late tries, the French crowd would have built a fire on the centre spot and tied three players to three stakes. Aurelien Rougerie and Damien Traille for missing simple kicks to the corner, and Frédéric Michalak who, at moments during the third quarter, looked incapable of catching his own breath let alone the ball. But all three redeemed themselves, so we'll hand this award -- in good grace -- to Nigel Owens, the TMO who took an eternity not to award a try. Several travelling fans managed a boat ride on the Seine in the interlude.
The scorers:
For France:
Tries: Lievremont, Nyanga, De Villiers, Rougerie, Michalak
Cons: Yachvili 3
Pens: Elissalde, Yachvili
For Italy:
Pen: Pez 3
Drop: Pez
Yellow card(s): Del Fava (Italy) -- killing the ball, 62
The teams:
France: 15 Thomas Castaignède, 14 Aurelien Rougerie, 13 Florian Fritz, 12 Damien Traille (David Marty, 54), 11 Christophe Dominici, 10 Frédéric Michalak, 9 Jean-Baptiste Elissalde (Dimitri Yachvili, 39), 8 Thomas Lièvremont, 7 Olivier Magne (Julien Bonnaire, 78), 6 Yannick Nyanga, 5 Jerôme Thion, 4 Fabien Pelous (Lionel Nallet, 79), 3 Pieter de Villiers, 2 Raphaël Ibañez, 1 Olivier Milloud (Sylvain Marconnet, 52).
Unused replacements: 16 Sebastien Bruno, 22 Cédric Heymans.
Italy: 15 Cristian Stoica, 14 Pablo Canavosio, 13 Gonzalo Canale, 12 Mirco Bergamasco, 11 Luciano Nitoglia, 10 Ramiro Pez, 9 Paul Griffen (Simon Picone, 9-11, 63), 8 Sergio Parisse, 7 Mauro Bergamasco, 6 Josh Sole (Alessandro Zanni, 80), 5 Marco Bortolami (captain), 4 Carlo Del Fava, 3 Carlos Nieto (Martin Castrogiovanni, 73), 2 Fabio Ongaro (Carlo Festuccia, 75), 1 Salvatore Perugini (Andrea Lo Cicero, 75).
Unused replacements: 19 Valerio Bernabò, 22 Ezio Galon.
Referee: Tony Spreadbury (England)
Touch judges: Dave Pearson (England), Nigel Whitehouse (Wales)
Television match official: Nigel Owens
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