Italy settle for thrilling Six Nations draw with 14-man France in Lille

Italy fly-half Paolo Garbisi missed a late penalty which meant his side had to settle for a 13-13 draw with France in their Six Nations clash at the Stade Pierre-Mauroy in Lille on Sunday.

In the end, both sides scored a try apiece with Les Bleus captain Charles Ollivon crossing the whitewash for the hosts and Ange Capuozzo scored the Azzurri’s five-pointer.

France’s other points came via a conversion and two penalties from Thomas Ramos while Garbisi succeeded with a penalty and a conversion for Italy and Martin Page-Relo also added a three-pointer off the kicking tee.

However, Italy will be kicking themselves as they had a chance to win the game in its dying moments when Garbisi lined up a shot at goal from 38 metres out.

But the ball toppled off its tee and, with just a few seconds left on the shot clock after it had been replaced, Garbisi rushed his kick and struck the right-hand post.

France ― who had won 45 of their previous 48 Test matches against Italy, including the past 14 in a row ― had lost Jonathan Danty to a red card on the stroke of half-time for a high shot on opposite centre Juan Ignacio Brex.

Les Bleus thrashed Italy 60-7 at last year’s World Cup but a repeat of that one-sided encounter did not materialise as the Azzurri underlined their improvement under new head coach Gonzalo Quesada.

Italy remain bottom of the Six Nations, level on points with Wales, while France stay in fourth place, with their title dream over.

France started at breakneck pace and were rewarded with a seventh-minute try.

Italy were unable to stop a series of pick-and-go’s through the middle of their defence and skipper Ollivon got the ball down under a pile of Azzurri bodies.

Ramos dispatched a simple conversion and swiftly added a penalty as France suggested the game could be effectively over by half-time.

Italy spent most of the first half hanging on by their fingernails, and were not helped by a risky strategy of trying to escape their 22 with ball in hand.

Fly-half Matthieu Jalibert was stopped near to the line and 19-year-old lock Posolo Tuilagi almost celebrated his first Test start with a try.

But Tuilagi was held up over the line and the contest took a dramatic turn in the final play of the first half as Italy launched a rare attack.

There was clear head-on-head contact between Danty and Brex, and English referee Christophe Ridley reduced France to 14 men with a yellow card.

Late drama in Lille and it ends all square between France and Italy 😱🙌#GuinnessM6N #FRAITA pic.twitter.com/jfoKEvGZ1T

― Guinness Men's Six Nations (@SixNationsRugby) February 25, 2024

Page-Relo provided further punishment to France from long range, and Ridley confirmed after the interval that the bunker review system had upgraded Danty’s yellow to red.

France made light of their numerical disadvantage as their forwards rallied for Ramos to land his second penalty.

Tommaso Menoncello went close to an Azzurri try, kicking ahead before running out of ground, but Garbisi cut the gap to seven points again with a straightforward penalty.

Italy drew level 10 minutes from time after building through the phases for Leonardo Marin to find Capuozzo with a superb offload.

Garbisi converted but then failed to top it as Italy, with only two Six Nations wins over France since joining the Championship in 2000, fell agonisingly short of a second success in 45 matches.

The teams

France:  15 Thomas Ramos, 14 Damian Penaud, 13 Gaël Fickou, 12 Jonathan Danty, 11 Matthis Lebel, 10 Matthieu Jalibert, 9 Maxime Lucu, 8 François Cros, 7 Charles Ollivon (c), 6 Paul Boudehent, 5 Posolo Tuilagi, 4 Cameron Woki, 3 Uini Atonio, 2 Peato Mauvaka, 1 Cyril Baille
Replacements:  16 Julien Marchand, 17 Sebastien Taofifenua, 18 Dorian Aldegheri, 19 Romain Taofifenua, 20 Alexandre Roumat, 21 Esteban Abadie, 22 Nolann Le Garrec, 23 Yoram Moefana

Italy:  15 Ange Capuozzo, 14 Tommaso Menoncello, 13 Juan Ignacio Brex, 12 Federico Mori, 11 Monty Ioane, 10 Paolo Garbisi, 9 Martin Page-Relo, 8 Ross Vintcent, 7 Michele Lamaro (c), 6 Riccardo Favretto, 5 Federico Ruzza, 4 Niccolò Cannone, 3 Giosuè Zilocchi, 2 Giacomo Nicotera, 1 Danilo Fischetti
Replacements:  16 Gianmarco Lucchesi, 17 Mirco Spagnolo, 18 Simone Ferrari, 19 Matteo Canali, 20 Andrea Zambonin, 21 Manuel Zuliani, 22 Stephen Varney, 23 Leonardo Marin

Referee:  Christophe Ridley (England)
Assistant Referees:  Matthew Carley (England), Craig Evans (Wales)
TMO:  Ian Tempest (England)

France hang on for opening round victory over Italy in Rome

France survived a major scare against Italy in Rome as they hung on to win 29-24 in a nerve-racking Six Nations triumph on Sunday.

Tries from Thibaud Flament, Thomas Ramos, Ethan Dumortier and Matthieu Jalibert saw Les Bleus seal a bonus-point win, with Ramos also kicking nine points.

Italy came agonisingly close to claiming a memorable victory though, with Ange Capuozzo’s score and a penalty try added to by four penalties from Tommaso Allan.

The visitors were dealt a second-half scare when Charles Ollivon was sent to the sin bin and Italy were awarded that penalty try, at one point taking a second-half lead through Allan.

But Les Bleus fended off the threat and will look to extend their winning streak to 15 when they travel to Ireland next weekend in round two of the Six Nations.

France were on the scoresheet after four minutes when Italy scrum-half Stephen Varney attempted a box-kick only to be thwarted by the six-foot-eight Flament, who intercepted before going on an unstoppable run over the whitewash, with Ramos adding the extras.

Allan booted in a penalty to narrow the deficit before France had a try ruled out, but Les Bleus soon restored their advantage through Ramos.

Allan added another penalty for the Azzurri before Dumortier collected Romain Ntamack’s cross-field kick and dotted down to open his account for France.

Impressive finish from Capuozzo

Italy responded through Capuozzo, who went on a spritely run and was able to evade Gregory Alldritt before getting the ball down in the left corner, with Allan adding a penalty to make it 19-14 at the halfway point.

Ramos added three more but Ollivon was soon punished for bringing down the maul and the penalty try was awarded after a review.  Allan soon made no mistake to slot his fourth penalty through the posts to give his side the lead for the first time in the 61st minute.

Five minutes later, however, France displayed their depth when Jalibert came off the bench and made an instant impact, scoring with his first touch to secure the bonus point.

Gabin Villiere hat-trick helps France to victory over Italy

Championship favourites France got their Six Nations campaign off to a winning start as they sealed a 37-10 victory over a stubborn Italy side.

It was not the most auspicious of performances from Les Bleus, especially in the opening half-hour, but they eventually pulled away.

The Azzurri gave it a real go and stunned the Stade de France early on when 19-year-old Tommaso Menoncello touched down, but the hosts hit back and eventually emerged with a comfortable win.

Anthony Jelonch benefited from an Italian mistake to move the French in front before Gabin Villiere gave Fabien Galthie’s men an 18-10 advantage at the break.

In difficult conditions, mistakes continued to pervade their play in the second period but brilliantly worked tries for Villiere, who completed his hat-trick, and Damian Penaud secured the triumph.

France got on the board first through Melvyn Jaminet’s early penalty, but Italy were making the most of some ill-discipline from the hosts.

Their reward came in the 17th minute when Paolo Garbisi kicked towards the corner and debutant Menoncello grabbed the ball to cross.

That quietened the Paris crowd momentarily but France hit back eight minutes later as Jelonch intercepted a pass from Gloucester scrum-half Stephen Varney and raced 20 metres for the try.

After the two sides traded penalties and the lead, France struck again on the brink of half-time – swift passing through the middle left Jaminet and Villiere two on one, and Jaminet set up his team-mate before kicking the conversion to give the hosts an 18-10 lead at the break.

With breathing space, France looked slightly more assured when the teams re-emerged.

Jonathan Danty was stopped just short of the line two minutes into the second half, but it was only a temporary reprieve for Italy.

Five minutes later Gregory Alldritt fed Villiere who raced into the corner to give the hosts a 23-10 lead.

The bonus-point was confirmed as the game moved into the final 10 minutes, with Penaud exchanging passes with Antoine Dupont before touching down, with Jaminet adding the extras.

And there was just time for Villiere to complete his treble at the death, taking a short pass from Yoram Moefana to slide in and complete France’s first Six Nations hat-trick since Vincent Clerc in 2008.

Clinical France put Italy to the sword

France made a fantastic start to this year’s Six Nations when they cruised to a 50-10 victory against Italy at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome on Saturday.

As the scoreline suggests, this was a one-sided affair with Les Bleus holding the upper hand for long periods and they eventually outscored their hosts by seven tries to none with Teddy Thomas (2), Dylan Cretin, Gael Fickou, Arthur Vincent, Brice Dulin, Antoine Dupont crossing the whitewash, while Matthieu Jalibert finished with a 15-point haul after slotting six conversions and a penalty.

For Italy, Luca Sperandio scored a try and Paolo Garbisi succeeded with a penalty and a conversion.

Italy were competitive during the early stages and came close to scoring shortly after the kick off when Juan Ignacio Brex made a fantastic break but Gabin Villiere saved the day for France with a cover tackle deep inside his 22.

It didn’t take long for the visitors to open the scoring, however, after Thomas put them onto the front foot with a mazy run which tore the Azzurri’s defence to shreds.  The ball was then taken through some phases in Italy’s 22 before Cretin crashed over for the opening try.

Jalibert converted and increased Les Bleus’ lead when he landed a penalty in the 10th minute.  Despite battling to cope with the intensity of France’s attacks, Italy eventually opened their account when Garbisi slotted a penalty midway through the half after Charles Ollivon infringed at a breakdown.

Despite that penalty, it was still France who dominated proceedings and they were holding a 24-3 lead by the half-hour mark thanks to well-taken tries from Fickou and Vincent.  The latter one came after a moment of magic from Dupont who, despite being caught in possession deep inside Italy’s 22, still did well to throw a short inside pass over his shoulder to the on-rushing Vincent, who had an easy run-in under the posts.

Italy needed a response and they thought they had done that when Stephen Varney did brilliantly to sell dummies to Cyril Baille and Dupont down the left-hand touchline before offloading to Monty Ioane, who outpaced the cover defence before crossing in the left-hand corner.  That score was disallowed though after television match official Karl Dickson ruled that the final pass from Varney went forward and the visitors had their tails up at half-time.

🗣 "But the French, wow."

A lovely try from Teddy Thomas after a Jailbert break and a Dupont assist. #GuinnessSixNations #ITAvFRA pic.twitter.com/M61hXQyKTM

— Guinness Six Nations (@SixNationsRugby) February 6, 2021

Les Bleus continued to dominate in the second half and in the 49th minute Dulin scored his try after gathering a well-weighted chip kick from Villiere inside the Azzurri’s 22.

With their bonus-point secured, France turned on the style and had the game in the bag courtesy of two excellent tries from Dupont and Thomas midway through the half.

In the 54th minute, Dupont was rewarded for a brilliant performance when he gathered an inside pass from Thomas, after the flyer burst through the home side’s defence with a powerful line break, and shortly afterwards the scrum-half returned the favour when he found himself in the clear inside Italy’s 22 and Thomas went over for his first try.

To their credit, Italy did not surrender and in the 65th minute they were rewarded when Sperandio caught the defence napping when he chipped ahead and regathered down the right-hand touchline before crossing for his side’s only five-pointer.

But France finished stronger and in the 74th minute Thomas dotted down out wide ― a score which also brought up a half century of points and sealed an emphatic win for Les Bleus.

Check out the video highlights from France's 50-10 victory over Italy in Rome on Saturday.

France see off spirited Italy for second win

France overcame a battling Italy side to secure their second win of this year's Six Nations following a 35-22 bonus-point triumph in Paris on Sunday.

Despite struggling with his goal-kicking, Romain Ntamack touched down for their fourth try as Fabien Galthie's men made it two wins from two to join Ireland as the only other team with a 100 per cent record in the competition.

Teddy Thomas, Charles Ollivon, Gregory Alldritt, Ntamack and Baptiste Serin all crossed for the French, who coasted to victory despite several phases of wayward attacking play.

Wasps' electric wing Matteo Minozzi, hooker Federico Zani and Mattia Bellini bagged tries for the battling Azzurri, but Franco Smith's side still slipped to a 24th straight Six Nations loss.

France have not won the Six Nations since their 2010 Grand Slam but, after adding this eventually facile victory over Italy to the scalping of England, hopes will be high that the drought can come to an end.

New head coach Galthie will face a strong test of their title credentials when heading to Wales on February 22 though.

Factor in the return of defence coach Shaun Edwards to his old Principality Stadium stomping ground, and that encounter will doubtless prove pivotal to the entire tournament's make-up.

It's all there in black and white...

How are your team doing?#GuinnessSixNations pic.twitter.com/nac9iOrhgE

— Guinness Six Nations (@SixNationsRugby) February 9, 2020

Les Bleus bludgeoned into early control, Thomas racing in after neat build-up.

Flanker Ollivon then doubled the hosts' try count, punching over the line from short range.

Ntamack struggled with the ball off the tee in the increasingly stormy conditions, and a mini slump from the French allowed Italy back into the contest.

Wasps star Minozzi capped a fine 13-phase move with a morale-boosting score for the Azzurri, who had the ever-excellent Jake Polledri to thank for creating the necessary midfield space for the try.

The powerful Gloucester flanker for once opted against brute force, instead pivoting and delivering a cute pass out the back, with Braam Steyn's shy dummy line also foxing the French.

Allan's penalty just shy of the half-hour hauled Italy into touching distance at 13-10 down, but the visitors could not muster enough of a comeback to alter the outcome.

France number eight Alldritt cantered home having lurked on the left wing and been duly furnished with a superb floated pass from Antoine Dupont.

Les Bleus' petit general scrum-half had another match to remember, scampering around the fringes and directing his side in style.

And his pass out to Alldritt allowed the big forward almost a walk-in, to leave France leading 23-10 at the break.

A largely forgettable third quarter came and went without incident, before France sealed the bonus point.

Italy's first-half rally had long evaporated when Ntamack bisected the visiting defence, scything through for a facile try, and Les Bleus' fourth.

Replacement hooker Zani registered for Italy however, dotting the ball against the base of the post for the Azzurri's second try.

And that set up a needlessly nervy denouement for the French, who invited yet more pressure when Ntamack spilled a high ball.

If you want something doing...

Replacement scrum-half Baptiste Serin goes from halfway with a magnificent solo try for @FranceRugby#FRAvITA #GuinnessSixNations pic.twitter.com/X2cI9Y837c

— Guinness Six Nations (@SixNationsRugby) February 9, 2020

Again the Italians were unable to make good on any kind of comeback though, and replacement half-back Serin stunned the Azzurri with a sharp quick-tap try.

The scrum-half raced clear with quick wits, grubbering to turn the defence and beating the cover to the ball to score.

Italy managed the last word, with Bellini scampering home after Jayden Hayward's break.  But France still roll on, with the defining battle yet to come in Cardiff.

The scorers:

For France:
Tries:  Thomas, Ollivon, Alldritt, Ntamack, Serin
Cons:  Ntamack, Jalibert
Pens:  Ntamack 2

For Italy:
Tries:  Minozzi, Zani, Bellini
Cons:  Allan 2
Pen:  Allan

The teams:

France:  15 Anthony Bouthier, 14 Teddy Thomas, 13 Arthur Vincent, 12 Gael Fickou, 11 Vincent Rattez, 10 Romain Ntamack, 9 Antoine Dupont, 8 Grégory Alldritt, 7 Charles Ollivon (c), 6 François Cros, 5 Paul Willemse, 4 Bernard Le Roux, 3 Mohamed Haouas, 2 Julien Marchand, 1 Cyril Baille
Replacements:  16 Peato Mauvaka, 17 Jefferson Poirot, 18 Demba Bamba, 19 Romain Taofifenua, 20 Boris Palu, 21 Cameron Woki, 22 Baptiste Serin, 23 Matthieu Jalibert

Italy:  15 Jayden Hayward, 14 Mattia Bellini, 13 Luca Morisi, 12 Carlo Canna, 11 Matteo Minozzi, 10 Tommaso Allan, 9 Callum Braley, 8 Abraham Steyn, 7 Sebastian Negri, 6 Jake Polledri, 5 Niccolò Cannone, 4 Dean Budd, 3 Giosuè Zilocchi, 2 Luca Bigi (c), 1 Andrea Lovotti
Replacements:  16 Federico Zani, 17 Danilo Fischetti, 18 Marco Riccioni, 19 Jimmy Tuivaiti, 20 Federico Ruzza, 21 Giovanni Licata, 22 Guglielmo Palazzani, 23 Giulio Bisegni

Referee:  Andrew Brace (Ireland)
Assistant referees:  Nigel Owens (Wales), Brendon Pickerill (New Zealand)
TMO:  Brian MacNeice (Ireland)

Check out the highlights from France's 35-22 victory over Italy in Paris on Sunday.

France end campaign on a high after beating Italy

France finished their Six Nations campaign on a high courtesy of a hard-fought 25-14 win over Italy at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome on Saturday.

In a tightly contested affair, momentum between the sides ebbed and flowed but it was France who got the rub of the green in the end as they outscored the Azzurri by three tries to one.

The result was in the balance until the game’s dying moments but a try from Damian Penaud secured the win for Les Bleus after Italy wasted try-scoring opportunities at the other end just before that.

The victory is France’s second of the tournament while Italy finish winless for the fourth successive year and extend their drought in the Six Nations to 22 matches.

Italy dominated the early exchanges and raced into a 6-0 lead after Tommaso Allan succeeded with two penalties.

France were slowly getting into the game and in the 16th minute Penaud gathered a pass from Maxime Medard close to the halfway line before setting off on a brilliant run down the right-hand touchline.  He cut infield and beat Tito Tebaldi with deft footwork before offloading to Antoine Dupont, who went over for the opening try.

Romain Ntamack slotted the conversion which gave his side a 7-5 lead but Les Bleus were dealt a blow shortly afterwards when their captain, Guilhem Guirado, was forced off the field with a rib injury.

Despite that setback, France still held the upper-hand and midway through the half Ntamack extended their lead via another penalty after Andrea Lovotti slowed the ball down illegally at a ruck.

Italy were soon camped inside Les Bleus’ 22, however, and in the 24th minute Allan stabbed through a well-weighted grubber kick which caught the French defence by surprise.  Marco Zanon gave chase but the ball bounced off the padding of an upright and the debutant centre knocked on.

Two minutes later, the Azzurri were denied again when Braam Steyn went over the whitewash under a mass of bodies, but television replays were inconclusive whether he grounded the ball.

It was all Italy during the rest of the half but despite spending most of the closing stages on the attack inside France’s half, they could not add to their points tally and the teams changed sides at the interval with Les Bleus holding a slender 10-6 lead.

Italy continued the second half like they finished off the first and in the 42nd minute Allan added another penalty after Yacouba Camara infringed at a ruck.

The visitors regained the initiative, however, and they did so in style courtesy of a brilliant try from Yoann Huget.  This, after France’s forwards laid the groundwork with some strong carries.  A long pass from Ntamack was gathered by Medard, who offloaded to Huget and the winger did well to outpace the cover defence on his way over the try-line.

Ntamack’s conversion was successful which gave the visitors some breathing space with the score 17-9 in their favour.  Italy had an opportunity to narrow the gap in the 49th minute, when France strayed offside on defence but Allan’s was off target with his penalty attempt.

The Azzurri put that miss behind them and five minutes later Tebaldi crossed the whitewash from close quarters after an extended period in Les Bleus’ 22.  Allan’s conversion attempt was wide of the mark but with the home side trailing by just three points, they were back in the match and continued to attack.

France needed a response and that came in the 63rd minute when Ntamack landed a drop goal from inside Italy’s 22 after Camille Chat did well in the build-up with a strong carry.

The next 10 minutes was a frantic affair as Italy launched several attacks in a bid to narrow the gap.  In the 66th minute, Tebaldi thought he was over for his second try but his effort was disallowed after he lost the ball forward before regathering and dotting down.

In the 72nd minute, Les Bleus suffered a setback when Chat halted a maul illegally from Italy close to his try-line and he was sent to the sin bin for his efforts.

With a numerical advantage, Italy dominated proceedings but in the 75th minute Zanon blew the chance to score his side’s second try when he had the ball knocked from his grasp while crossing the try-line.

The tackle was made Penaud, who finished the game as Les Bleus’ hero when he gathered a pass from Ntamack before racing away to score the try which sealed his side’s win.

The scorers:

For Italy:
Try:  Tebaldi
Pens:  Allan 3

For France:
Tries:  Dupont, Huget, Penaud
Cons:  Ntamack 2
Pen:  Ntamack
Drop goal:  Ntamack
Yellow Card:  Chat

Italy:  15 Jayden Hayward, 14 Edoardo Padovani, 13 Marco Zanon, 12 Luca Morisi, 11 Angelo Esposito, 10 Tommaso Allan, 9 Tito Tebaldi, 8 Sergio Parisse (c), 7 Jake Polledri, 6 Abraham Jurgens Steyn, 5 Federico Ruzza, 4 David Sisi, 3 Tiziano Pasquali, 2 Leonardo Ghiraldini, 1 Andrea Lovotti
Replacements:  16 Luca Bigi, 17 Cherif Traore’, 18 Simone Ferrari, 19 Alessandro Zanni, 20 Sebastian Negri, 21 Guglielmo Palazzani, 22 Ian McKinley, 23 Luca Sperandio

France:  15 Maxime Medard, 14 Damian Penaud, 13 Mathieu Bastareaud, 12 Geoffrey Doumayrou, 11 Yoann Huget, 10 Romain Ntamack, 9 Antoine Dupont, 8 Louis Picamoles, 7 Yacouba Camara, 6 Gregory Alldritt, 5 Paul Willemse, 4 Felix Lambey, 3 Demba Bamba, 2 Guilhem Guirado (c), 1 Etienne Falgoux
Replacements:  16 Camille Chat, 17 Dany Priso, 18 Dorian Aldegheri, 19 Paul Gabrillagues, 20 Arthur Iturria, 21 Baptiste Serin, 22 Camille Lopez, 23 Thomas Ramos

Referee:  Matthew Carley (England)
Assistant Referees:  Nigel Owens (Wales), Andrew Brace (Ireland)
TMO:  Graham Hughes (England)

France down Italy in scrappy encounter

France claimed their first win of the 2018 Six Nations, defeating Italy 34-17 at the Orange Vélodrome on Friday night.

Les Bleus squandered several chances in the first half.  However, after going into the break with a narrow 11-7 advantage, they wore Italy down and eventually put some daylight between themselves and the Azzurri in the second half.

France came into the match under pressure after narrow defeats to Ireland and Scotland.  However, it only took five minutes for Les Bleus to draw first blood.  Following an attacking lineout, they forced their way over the try-line, with Paul Gabrillagues grounding the ball.

But Italy hit back from an attacking lineout of their own and were awarded a penalty try in the 13th minute after the hosts collapsed the maul.

After a lengthy spell of pressure, France finally regained the lead in the 29th minute, with Maxime Machenaud slotting over a penalty won for offside right under the posts.

Back from a three-week ban for a homophobic slur, Mathieu Bastareaud did well to rip the ball out of Italian hands on the stroke of half-time, leading to another French penalty and three more points for Machenaud.

France squandered a glorious chance to score right after the break.  They found themselves with numbers out on the left, but with the try-line at their mercy, Lionel Beauxis swung the ball to nobody and the hosts knocked on.

Les Bleus did extend their lead through another Machenaud penalty in the 46th minute following a high tackle.  However, Italy hit back within four minutes.  Tommaso Allan nailed his first kick of the game after Sergio Parisse was taken out off the ball.

In the 60th minute, France finally scored their second try.  They attacked down the left once more, with Hugo Bonneval passing to Rémy Grosso out wide.  The winger offloaded back inside to the full-back as he was forced into touch and Bonneval finished off with ease.

Four minutes later, Nicola Quaglio was penalised for offside.  Machenaud stepped up to the kicking tee once more and extended the lead to two converted tries.

The scrum-half's last contribution before being substituted off for Baptiste Couilloud came in the 71st minute, when he popped his fifth penalty of the night over after France failed to make the most of an advantage.

In the 73rd minute, Bastareaud put the game to bed.  After Marco Tauleigne had charged through the Azzurri defence to initiate the attack, the centre was left to finish the job from close range.  He duly obliged, powering over the try-line.

With less than two minutes left on the clock, Italy scored a consolation try.  Following a set play, they moved the ball out to the left and breezed through the French defence.  Matteo Minozzi finished off the move.

However, the game ended in tears for the Azzurri as Luca Bigi was yellow carded for a deliberate knock-on in the dying seconds.  France were unable to force their way over for one final try, but they nevertheless claimed a comfortable win.

The scorers:

For France:
Tries:  Gabrillagues, Bonneval, Bastareaud
Cons:  Machenaud, Trinh-Duc
Pens:  Machenaud 5

For Italy:
Tries:  Penalty try, Minozzi
Con:  Canna
Pen:  Allan
Yellow Card:  Bigi

France:  15 Hugo Bonneval, 14 Benjamin Fall, 13 Mathieu Bastareaud, 12 Geoffrey Doumayrou, 11 Rémy Grosso, 10 Lionel Beauxis, 9 Maxime Machenaud, 8 Marco Tauleigne, 7 Yacouba Camara, 6 Wenceslas Lauret, 5 Sébastien Vahaamahina, 4 Paul Gabrillagues, 3 Rabah Slimani, 2 Guilhem Guirado, 1 Jefferson Poirot
Replacements:  16 Adrien Pelissié, 17 Dany Priso, 18 Cedate Gomes Sa, 19 Romain Taofifenua, 20 Kélian Galletier, 21 Baptiste Couilloud, 22 François Trinh-Duc, 23 Gaël Fickou

Italy:  15 Matteo Minozzi, 14 Tommaso Benvenuti, 13 Tommaso Boni, 12 Tommaso Castello, 11 Mattia Bellini, 10 Tommaso Allan, 9 Marcello Violi, 8 Sergio Parisse (c), 7 Maxime Mbanda, 6 Sebastian Negri, 5 Dean Budd, 4 Alessandro Zanni, 3 Simone Ferrari, 2 Leonardo Ghiraldini, 1 Andrea Lovotti
Replacements:  16 Luca Bigi, 17 Nicola Quaglio, 18 Tiziano Pasquali 19 George Biagi, 20 Federico Ruzza, 21 Edoardo Gori, 22 Carlo Canna, 23 Jayden Hayward

Referee:  Wayne Barnes (England)
Assistant referees:  John Lacey (Ireland), Luke Pearce (England)
TMO:  David Grashoff (England)

Bonus-point win for France in Rome

France broke away in the second half to secure a 40-18 win over Italy in Rome, earning a second victory of the tournament.

Italy took a surprise lead through Sergio Parisse but France responded in kind through Gaël Fickou, with three penalties from Camille Lopez to two from Carlo Canna giving France a 16-11 advantage by the break.

Virimi Vakatawa's try extended the French advantage and from there they never looked back, Louis Picamoles crashing over before Brice Dulin secured the bonus point in the final few minutes.

Under the Rome sunshine Italy started full of running, a multiple-phase attack concluding when Canna sold a dummy to the French defence to draw in two defenders, before freeing his arms to offload to Parisse for the opening score.

France hit back through a Lopez penalty after Edoardo Gori strayed offside at the scrum, but Italy had the perfect chance to respond after unlocking France's defence with a cute offload from Parisse.

With numbers to spare out wide, Lorenzo Cittadini's cut-out pass was the entirely wrong option and France escaped conceding a second try.

That mistake aside this was an outstanding display in the opening quarter from the Azzurri, whose confidence appeared high.  Canna punished France for not rolling away with a first penalty to make it 8-3.

France then punctured the mood with an attack straight off the restart.  Fickou's excellent mid-air take released Vakatawa down the touchline, and after testing the Italian defence France won a penalty which Lopez converted to cut the gap to two points.

Suddenly it was France who had their tails up, executing a brilliant attack from deep for their first try.

Rémi Lamerat and Vakatawa combined to chew up the ground ahead of them before the ball was kept alive and Fickou finished it off, slicing through following a brilliant show-and-go before scoring under the posts.  Lopez converted, with France ahead for the first time at 13-8.

Italy have crumbled after similar moments in the past but this was a little different, working their way upfield for Canna to land a second penalty and reduce the deficit.

Another Lopez penalty in response cemented France's advantage, with les Bleus holding a 16-11 advantage come the interval.

And the purple patch for Lopez off the kicking tee continued with another three points after half-time, stretching the lead to six, before France looked on the verge of putting the game to bed following another Fickou break.  Edoardo Padovani had other ideas, reeling in Vakatawa down the touchline.

The big winger couldn't be restrained for long however.  Setting up deep in Italian territory, Baptiste Serin's short pass caught Italy out around the fringes for Vakatawa to score under the posts, making it 26-11 with the conversion from Lopez.

Early optimism over Italy's prospects was now beginning to fade, Giorgio Bronzini denied by the TMO, with France instead going up the other end and powering over through Picamoles after Italy's forwards had been sucked into the rolling maul.

Eddy Ben Arous looked to have wrapped up the bonus point, only for the try to be brought back after Picamoles was adjudged to have a foot in touch.

With the game all but won, France handed a debut to exciting young scrum-half Antoine Dupont, and it took until the 76th minute for the bonus point to finally come.

Kévin Gourdon, in another outstanding performance, broke free and fed Dulin on his outside for the full-back ro race home, securing the bonus-point win in the process, with Angelo Esposito's late consolation try for Italy having no bearing on the outcome.

The scorers:

For Italy:
Tries:  Parisse, Esposito
Con:  Canna
Pens:  Canna 2

For France:
Tries:  Fickou, Vakatawa, Picamoles, Dulin
Cons:  Lopez 4
Pens:  Lopez 4

Italy:  15 Edoardo Padovani, 14 Angelo Esposito, 13 Michele Campagnaro, 12 Luke McLean, 11 Giovanbattista Venditti, 10 Carla Canna, 9 Edoardo Gori, 8 Sergio Parisse (c), 7 Simone Favaro, 6 Abraham Steyn, 5 Dries van Schalkwyk, 4 Marco Fuser, 3 Lorenzo Cittadini, 2 Leonardo Ghiraldini, 1 Andrea Lovotti
Replacements:  16 Tommaso D'Apice, 17 Sami Panico, 18 Dario Chistolini, 19 George Biagi, 20 Maxime Mbanda, 21 Giorgio Bronzini, 22 Tommaso Benvenuti, 23 Luca Sperandio

France:  15 Brice Dulin, 14 Noa Nakaitaci, 13 Rémi Lamerat, 12 Gaël Fickou, 11 Virimi Vakatawa, 10 Camille Lopez, 9 Baptiste Serin, 8 Louis Picamoles, 7 Kévin Gourdon, 6 Fabien Sanconnie, 5 Yoann Maestri, 4 Julien Le Devedec, 3 Rabah Slimani, 2 Guilhem Guirado (c), 1 Cyril Baille
Replacements:  16 Christopher Tolofua, 17 Uini Atonio, 18 Eddy Ben Arous, 19 Paul Jedrasiak, 20 Bernard Le Roux, 21 Antoine Dupont, 22 Francois Trinh-Duc, 23 Yoann Huget

Referee:  Ben O'Keeffe (New Zealand)
Assistant Referees:  Nigel Owens (Wales), JP Doyle (England)
TMO:  Marius Jonker (South Africa)

Plisson’s penalty holds off Italy

Jules Plisson's late penalty was enough for France to hold off Italy 23-21 in a gripping Six Nations opener at the Stade de France.

Virimi Vakatawa crossed on his debut as France outscored their visitors three tries to two, but Sergio Parisse's late drop-goal attempt nearly snatched victory for the Azzurri, only for his effort to miss.

As tactical performances go this was one of Italy's finest for years and they surpassed all pre-tournament expectations, arguably deserving more for their efforts in an entertaining contest.

There is so much hope around France's new caps, four of which started in Paris with Yacouba Camara an early replacement for Louis Picamoles.  That experience felt like a burden until their fly-half Plisson, just 24 himself, landed the crucial penalty with only minutes remaining.

Written off in a hurry before the tournament, this was a fine response from Italy.  Competitive as ever in the set-piece, whenever their passes stuck they appeared a real threat, exposing France's flawed defence.  It almost goes without saying that Parisse was excellent such is his class, but this was one of his finest games for some time.

Leonardo Sarto came so close to a moment of brilliance chasing down Edoardo Gori's box kick but their bright start was rewarded through a drop-goal from Carlo Canna.

Vakatawa's try shortly followed, despite his foot coming dangerously close to the touchline, but it came at a cost as Picamoles trudged off the field helped by the French medical staff.

A missed penalty and conversion from Sébastien Bezy prevented France's lead from being healthier after the opening quarter.

By persistenly testing Vakatawa's positioning with kicks over his head Italy eventually struck back, forcing Maxime Médard to turn and find the safety of touch with his boot.  Attacking from the resulting five-metre lineout, Parisse was found at the bottom of the pile after Italy's maul rumbled over the line to score.

The quick-thinking of Gaël Fickou, taking a tap penalty after Parisse's deliberate knock-on, helped to spin the ball through the hands allowing Damien Chouly to finish in the corner.  Bézy missed his third kick of the contest from out wide.

Canna had the chance to put Italy ahead just before the break, but his penalty drifted wide yet again to leave Italy trailing 10-8 at the interval despite banging on the door late on through Michele Campagnaro who was stopped just short.

Italy's young fly-half found his range with a first penalty after the break to put the Azzurri ahead, but what happened next stunned the Stade de France.

With so much space on offer Italy profited by getting their runners into gaps at speed, Parisse's carry putting him on the verge of a second score were it not for Vakatawa's try-saving tackle.  After Italy recycled Canna was there to touch down, converting to make it 18-10.

Now under pressure France looked short of both leadership and also direction in their attack, trying to spread the ball as often as they could with little success.  Plisson's chip and chase was a rare exception, even if the attack came to nothing.

France at last clicked with a sweeping score, started by Vakatawa's thunderous carry as he dragged tacklers into the 22.  Wide the French went as Danty released Hugo Bonneval to score right in the corner.  Plisson's conversion made it a one-point game.

The switch in kickers paid off with a Plisson penalty with 11 minutes to go, putting France back ahead at 20-18, only for replacement number ten Kelly Haimona to swing the lead back Italy's way with six minutes left.

Parisse, shaking his head after being penalised for playing the ball after being tackled, then watched his Stade Français team-mate Plisson hammer over a monster penalty to make it 23-21.

Italy did their best to force a penalty out of JP Doyle through the scrum, and then for a drop goal — bizarrely taken by all people by Parisse in familiar territory.  The number eight's effort desperately missed, France clinging on.

Man of the Match:  Contenders from both sides, with Canna excellent for Italy, but Jules Plisson's late kicks were absolutely vital when France needed direction.

Moment of the Match:  Parisse, penalised for trying to carry on after being tackled, and Plisson's huge penalty thereafter to secure the win.

Villain of the Match:  Nothing nasty to report.

The scorers:

For France:
Tries:  Vakatawa, Chouly, Bonneval
Cons:  Plisson
Pens:  Plisson

For Italy:
Tries:  Parisse, Canna
Cons:  Canna
Pens:  Canna, Haimona
Drop:  Canna

France:  15 Maxime Médard, 14 Hugo Bonneval, 13 Gaël Fickou, 12 Jonathan Danty, 11 Virimi Vakatawa, 10 Jules Plisson, 9 Sébastien Bezy, 8 Louis Picamoles, 7 Damien Chouly, 6 Wenceslas Lauret, 5 Yoann Maestri, 4 Paul Jedrasiak, 3 Rabah Slimani, 2 Guilhem Guirado (c), 1 Eddy Ben Arous
Replacements:  16 Camille Chat, 17 Uini Atonio, 18 Jefferson Poirot, 19 Alexandre Flanquart, 20 Yacouba Camara, 21 Maxime Machenaud, 22 Jean-Marc Doussain, 23 Maxime Mermoz

Italy:  15 David Odiete, 14 Leonardo Sarto, 13 Michele Campagnaro, 12 Gonzalo Garcia, 11 Mattia Bellini, 10 Carlo Canna, 9 Edoardo Gori, 8 Sergio Parisse (c), 7 Alessandro Zanni, 6 Francesco Minto, 5 Marco Fuser, 4 George Fabio Biagi, 3 Lorenzo Cittadini, 2 Ornel Gega, 1 Andrea Lovotti
Replacements:  16 Davide Giazzon, 17 Matteo Zanusso, 18 Martin Castrogiovanni, 19 Valerio Bernabo, 20 Andries van Schalkwyk, 21 Guglielmo Palazzani, 22 Kelly Haimona, 23 Luke McLean

Referee:  JP Doyle (England)
Assistant Referees:  George Clancy (Ireland), Federico Anselmi (Argentina)
TMO:  Graham Hughes (England)

Revitalised France nil Italy

Yoann Maestri's first international try helped France to a morale-boosting 29-0 victory over Italy at the Stadio Olimpico.

After an uninspiring first half, les Bleus ground their way into the lead before taking control in the second-half.

And when Maestri went over five minutes after the break, France moved 19-0 ahead to ensure a second win over the Championship after successive losses, with Mathieu Bastareaud adding the finishing touches with a last-second try.

On the day that Sergio Parisse became Italy's all-time most capped player, it was a wretched afternoon for the Azzurri, who failed to make the most of their early dominance before being completely overwhelmed from the 20 minutes onwards.

Instead it was Thierry Dusautoir, captaining France for the 50th time, who enjoyed a win in Rome, after consecutive losses in 2011 and 2013.

Italy had all the ball in the opening minutes but the first real danger came from a high ball collected by Noa Nakaitaci.  On debut, the winger sprinted 50 metres but couldn't get past Parisse, with the Italy skipper using the touchline to his advantage.

Still, the visitors were struggling to get any ball, and Italy should have gone in front on eight minutes when Bernard le Roux was penalised at a ruck.  Tommaso Allan, a late replacement for Kelly Haimona, was off-target with a relatively simple shot at goal.

Allan was clearly struggling with a groin injury, and soon had to leave his team-mates, with Luciano Orquera taking his place.  However the Zebre fly-half had no more luck than his predecessor, hitting the post with his first shot at goal as Italy failed to take advantage of their early dominance.

France barely touched the ball in the opening quarter, but earned a first penalty at a scrum, however Scott Spedding was off-target from 45 metres out.

The quality was fairly limited but Italy had their first semblance of a chance when Edoardo Gori dived onto a loose ball in midfield.  However after Samuela Vunisa had arrived in support his pass to Giovanbattista Venditti was forward.  Again Italy threatened, this time Andrea Masi was the guilty party with a knock-on when there was a big overlap.

Just before the half-hour, Vunisa collected a knock-on from Leonardo Ghiraldini, handing Camille Lopez a shot at goal from 40 metres out.  Having endured a really poor start to the game, Lopez made no mistake and gave France an unlikely 3-0 lead.

The conditions were poor, but that still didn't fully explain the number of handling errors and poor passes that made attacking play difficult.

But while it was France who had been heavily penalised in the early stages, that trend was reversed in the lead-up to half-time, with Francesco Minto pinged for coming in at the side at a ruck.  From 40 metres out, Lopez found the target, to give France a 6-0 advantage.

That seemed to liberate the French a little, and after one monumental rolling maul, Lopez almost scored a sensational solo try.  He slalomed through a number of tackles, but with the cover defence in place, his final pass didn't go to hand.

Italy were suffering on the injury front, with Matias Aguero and Luca Morisi joining Allan in coming off before the break.  And the momentum seemed to be turning, with the game now being played almost exclusively in Italian territory, although France were not much more effective with ball in hand.

They did have the edge in the scrum though, with Nicolas Mas impressing on his return to the team.  A penalty on the stroke of half-time gave them the chance to stretch the lead to nine points, with Spedding resuming kicking duties as Lopez needed treatment on his ankle.  The full-back made no mistake and France led 9-0 at the break.

The ankle problem turned out to be too much for Lopez to carry on, and he was replaced by Jules Plisson at the break.  The second half started with France again on the front foot, and Plisson knocked over an early penalty to settle his nerves.

And after 45 minutes France got the first try of the game thanks to some great ambition from Spedding.  The Bayonne full-back chose to run back a loose kick, before finding Loann Goujon inside him.  The support play was good and Guilhem Guirado popped up to keep the move alive.  He seemed to be caught high but the ball was quickly released and Yoann Huget played the overlap well to send Maestri over in the corner.  Plisson slotted the conversion and all of a sudden France led 19-0.

France looked a team transformed with a little confidence, and the introduction of Rabah Slimani and Benjamin Kayser made a difference in the scrum as les Bleus produced a massive effort to march the Italian eight back 15 metres before being penalised.

Just before the hour Italy conceded another penalty, with Plisson continuing his fine afternoon with the boot to stretch the lead even further.

While France had clearly bucked up their ideas, all wasn't clicking, with Kayser missing his jumper a couple of minutes later when France had a great lineout just five metres out.

Still, they were defending well and Italy had no response, with the French finishing the game on the front foot and there was time for Bastareaud to power under the posts with the final act.

It was far from perfect, and the first 20 minutes were desperately poor, however with a little confidence France certainly looked a far more capable team.  Whether they can maintain that next week against England remains to be seen.

Man of the match:  A lot of questions were asked over Loann Goujon's place in the starting line-up, having not made a start at number eight for La Rochelle since October.  The 25-year-old really showed up though, providing a big ball-carrying presence and winning his battle with Sergio Parisse.

Moment of the match:  It has to be Yoann Maestri's try.  A great counter from Scott Spedding with good support from Loann Goujon got them going before Yoann Huget released Maestri for the score.

Villain of the match:  No nasty stuff to report.

The scorers:

For France:
Tries:  Maestri, Bastareaud
Cons:  Plisson 2
Pens:  Lopez 2, Spedding, Plisson 2

The teams:

Italy:  15 Luke McLean, 14 Leonardo Sarto, 13 Luca Morisi, 12 Andrea Masi, 11 Giovambattista Venditti, 10 Tommaso Allan, 9 Edoardo Gori, 8 Sergio Parisse, 7 Samuela Vunisa, 6 Francesco Minto, 5 Joshua Furno, 4 George Fabio Biagi, 3 Dario Chistolini, 2 Leonardo Ghiraldini, 1 Matias Aguero.
Replacements:  16 Andrea Manici, 17 Alberto De Marchi, 18 Lorenzo Cittadini, 19 Marco Barbini, 20 Guglielmo Palazzani, 22 Luciano Orquera, 23 Enrico Bacchin.

France:  15 Scott Spedding, 14 Yoann Huget, 13 Gaël Fickou, 12 Maxime Mermoz, 11 Noa Nakaitaci, 10 Camille Lopez, 9 Sébastian Tillous-Borde, 8 Loann Goujon, 7 Bernard le Roux, 6 Thierry Dusautoir (c), 5 Yoann Maestri, 4 Alexandre Flanquart, 3 Nicolas Mas, 2 Guilhem Guirado, 1 Eddy Ben Arous.
Replacements:  16 Benjamin Kayser, 17 Rabah Slimani, 18 Vincent Debaty, 19 Romain Taofifenua, 20 Damien Chouly, 21 Rory Kockott, 22 Jules Plisson, 23 Mathieu Bastareaud

Venue:  Stadio Olimpico, Rome
Referee:  JP Doyle (England)
Assistant referees:  Nigel Owens (Wales), Stuart Berry (South Africa)
TMO:  Simon McDowell (Ireland)

France go two from two

France made it back-to-back victories in the Six Nations Championship as a second-half stampede saw them ease past Italy 30-10 in Paris on Sunday.

It A 9-3 half-time score summed up perfectly what was a dismal opening 40 minutes before the floodgates opened after the break for Les Bleus.

Tries came from Louis Picamoles, Wesley Fofana and Hugo Bonneval while Tommaso Iannone replied three minutes from time for the Azzurri.

A red card apiece for Rabah Slimani and Michele Rizzo for trading headbutts soured what was an otherwise clean contest of Six Nations rugby.

Action now takes a week's break before France go to Wales while Italy host Scotland in what already looks like being the Wooden Spoon decider.

On this second-half form, the French will fancy their chances against a Welsh side that had their confidence shattered against Ireland on Saturday.

It did take a while for France to click into gear though as that aforementioned summation of the first period suggests.  Several missed penalty attempts from both sides meant the game was scoreless until the 27th minute when Jean-Marc Doussain finally found his range following a strong run from full-back Brice Dulin.

France weren't ahead for long however as visiting fly-half Tomasso Allan equalised off the tee a minute later as Dulin was penalised for not retreating behind the back foot of tackled player Alberto De Marchi before contesting at the ruck.  Allan made no mistake to level.

Italy were on top at scrum time at this point but it was to be France's driving maul that did the damage next, with Italy falling into the trap of collapsing it, thus coughing up a further three.

Doussain was again on target just before the break when Joshua Furno was pinged by referee Jaco Peyper for not rolling away, meaning it was a six-point lead for the French.

Whatever coach Philippe Saint-Andre said at the break clearly worked as Les Bleus came out firing, with Picamoles barging over on 43 minutes after TMO confirmation because of possible obstruction by hooker Dimitri Szarzewski off a driving maul fifteen metres out.

And like London buses, the hosts' second arrived soon after when Fofana spotted space on the blindside of a ruck and quickly set off for the right-hand corner, seeing off Luke McLean en route to the try-line.  Doussain was now striking the ball sweetly to make it 23-3.

On 52 minutes the result was put beyond doubt as France scored the pick of their three tries.  It came from a lovely breakout from his own 22 by Fofana, who freed Yoann Huget on the left before the wing fed Bonneval for a debut try.  Doussain's conversion made it 30-3.

The threat of a demolition was now looming in Paris but instead there was a lull before replacements Slimani and Rizzo saw red for respective headbutts, this only a minute after France lock Sebastien Vahaamahina had been yellow carded for throwing the ball away.

The last word would be Italy's though and credit to them for it as wing Iannone finished well, giving them hope ahead of the biggest game of their 2014 Championship on February 22.

Man of the match:  Few would have scored the try that Wesley Fofana did.  His ability to see space before others was evident when he spotted just that on the blindside of a ruck.  Net result, he picked, went and raced over despite the best efforts of covering full-back McLean.

Moment of the match:  When the French aren't playing well, they can always look to Louis Picamoles to get them going forward.  His try to make it 16-3 with the conversion was key.

Villain(s) of the match:  No place for headbutts in rugby.  Michele Rizzo and Rabah Slimani.

The scorers:

For France:
Tries:  Picamoles, Fofana, Bonneval
Con:  Doussain 3
Pen:  Doussain 3
Yellow:  Vahaamahina (70 mins — kicking ball away)
Red:  Slimani (71 mins — headbutt)

For Italy:
Try:  Iannone
Con:  Orquera
Pen:  Allan
Red:  Rizzo (71 mins — headbutt and punch)

France:  15 Brice Dulin, 14 Yoann Huget, 13 Mathieu Bastareaud, 12 Wesley Fofana, 11 Hugo Bonneval, 10 Jules Plisson, 9 Jean-Marc Doussain, 8 Louis Picamoles, 7 Bernard Le Roux, 6 Yannick Nyanga, 5 Yoann Maestri 4 Pascal Papé (c), 3 Nicolas Mas, 2 Dimitri Szarzewski, 1 Thomas Domingo.
Replacements:  16 Benjamin Kayser, 17 Yannick Forestier, 18 Rabah Slimani, 19 Sebastien Vahaamahina, 20 Damien Chouly, 21 Maxime Machenaud, 22 Francois Trinh-Duc, 23 Gael Fickou.

Italy:15 Luke McLean, 14 Tommaso Iannone, 13 Michele Campagnaro, 12 Gonzalo Garcia, 11 Leonardo Sarto, 10 Tommaso Allan, 9 Edoardo Gori, 8 Sergio Parisse, 7 Mauro Bergamasco, 6 Francesco Minto, 5 Joshua Furno, 4 Quintin Geldenhuys, 3 Martin Castrogiovanni, 2 Leonardo Ghiraldini, 1 Alberto De Marchi.
Replacements:16 Davide Giazzon, 17 Michele Rizzo, 18 Lorenzo Cittadini, 19 Marco Bortolami, 20 Alessandro Zanni, 21 Tobias Botes, 22 Luciano Orquera, 23 Angelo Esposito.

Referee:  Jaco Peyper (South Africa)
Assistant referees:  Craig Joubert (South Africa), Francisco Pastrana (Argentina)

14-man Italy prevail in Rome

Italy condemned France to a shock 23-18 Six Nations defeat at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome on Sunday.

It was a sensational victory for the Azzurri who have now managed to beat Les Bleus twice in the last two years following their famous win in 2011.

France — favourites to win the Championship heading into this match — must now pick themselves up for next Saturday's clash with Wales in Paris.  Italy, in contrast, now have critical momentum that will serve them well when they make the trip to Edinburgh to tackle Scotland.

It's been a highly entertaining opening round of Six Nations rugby and this final hit-out of the weekend certainly didn't disappoint as both sides produced two tries apiece in a pulsating match filled with some heart-stopping moments at the death (no pun intended).

Indeed, Italy and their supporters were put through a frantic finale with France desperately seeking a late score to win the match.  Despite being under sustained scrum pressure after replacement hooker Davide Giazzon was sin-binned two minutes from time, Italy held on — giving them an opening weekend Six Nations win for the first time since 2003.

Italy raced out of the starting blocks first and struck the opening blow after five minutes courtesy of sublime brilliance from fly-half Luciano Orquera.  His ability to freeze the opposition defence surfaced in all its glory, with three French defenders transfixed as he broke out of Italy's half before delivering a scoring pass to captain Sergio Parisse.

Orquera's conversion made it 7-0.

Despite some resilient defensive work from Italy after keeping Florian Fritz inches out from the tryline, France spread the ball to the left and hit back through number eight Louis Picamoles who didn't need a second invitation to score.

Frederic Michalak failed to find his target, but France were on the board.

Italy were once again in territorial control, and it was that man Orquera who extended his team's lead thanks to a cheeky drop-goal and a penalty in the 15th and 18th minutes respectively (13-5).

Michalak managed to raise the flags with his first penalty attempt after Italy were pinged at scrum-time, and then put his side in front for the first time of the match after converting Benjamin Fall's try in the 33rd minute.

It was Yoann Huget who sparked the move that hauled Les Bleus level, running aggressively from just inside Italy's half to leave Fall with a clear run-in besides the posts.

The seven-pointer secured France a 15-13 lead at the break.  And the big question on everyone's lips was whether Italy would keep within striking distance of their French rivals in the second half.

At first, it didn't seem that way when Michalak landing a long-range penalty.

But when prop Martin Castrogiovanni powered over after another piece of magic from Orquera, the home crowd could sense another upset on the horizon.  Even more so when Orquera's conversion put Italy back in front (20-18).

Replacement pivot Kris Burton then ultimately sealed the deal with a well-struck drop-goal that meant France needed to score twice to win.  And the rest, as they say, is history.

Man of the match:  Italy skipper Sergio Parisse once again led from the front, but fly-half Luciano Orquera ran the show majestically — setting up two tries, kicking a drop-goal, two conversions and a penalty for a personal haul of 13 points.

Moment of the match:  Take your pick!  All four tries were out of the top drawer, but the final minute of the match left everyone watching this tense spectacle on the edge of their seats.

Villain of the match:  Replacement hooker Davide Giazzon may have been given his marching orders, but luckily for him, it didn't prove costly.

The scorers:

For Italy:
Tries:  Parisse, Castrogiovanni
Cons:  Orquera 2
Pens:  Orquera
Drop:  Orquera, Burton
Yellow card:  Giazzon (79th minute)

For France:
Tries:  Picamoles, Fall
Con:  Michalak
Pens:  Michalak 2

Italy:  15 Andrea Masi, 14 Giovambattista Venditti, 13 Tommaso Benvenuti, 12 Alberto Sgarbi, 11 Luke McLean, 10 Luciano Orquera, 9 Tobias Botes, 8 Sergio Parisse (c), 7 Simone Favaro, 6 Alessandro Zanni, 5 Francesco Minto, 4 Quintin Geldenhuys, 3 Martin Castrogiovanni, 2 Leonardo Ghiraldini, 1 Andrea Lo Cicero.
Replacements:  16 Davide Giazzon, 17 Alberto De Marchi , 18 Lorenzo Cittadini, 19 Antonio Pavanello, 20 Paul Derbyshire, 21 Edoardo Gori, 22 Kristopher Burton, 23 Gonzalo Canale.

France:15 Yoann Huget, 14 Wesley Fofana, 13 Florian Fritz, 12 Maxime Mermoz, 11 Benjamin Fall, 10 Frederic Michalak, 9 Maxime Machenaud, 8 Louis Picamoles, 7 Fulgence Ouedraogo, 6 Thierry Dusautoir, 5 Yoann Maestri, 4 Pascal Papé (c), 3 Nicolas Mas, 2 Dimitri Szarzewski, 1 Yannick Forestier
Replacements:  16 Benjamin Kayser, 17 Vincent Debaty, 18 Luc Ducalcon, 19 Romain Taofifenua, 20 Damien Chouly, 21 Morgan Parra, 22 Francois Trinh-Duc, 23 Mathieu Bastareaud

Referee:  Nigel Owens (Wales)

France sprint past impressive Italy

Tournament favourites France got their 2012 Six Nations campaign off to an ideal start on Saturday with a 30-12 victory over Italy in Paris.

Philippe Saint-André's team ran four tries past their visitors for a comfortable win although the scoreboard belies the quality of the Italian performance.

Indeed, Italy dominated possession and territory in the first half but France held a 15-6 lead at the break thanks to two well-taken tries from Aurélien Rougerie and Julien Malzieu.

The scoreline was by no means a fair reflection of the first 40 minutes but Les Bleus pounced on their only two opportunities while Italy failed to finish off a number of promising build-ups.

The trend continued early in the second half as Vincent Clerc touched down for France to put victory well out of reach of their rivals from across the Alps.

The French turned the screw in the closing minutes as their performance grew in fluidity and confidence.  Debutant centre Wesley Fofana added a late try to send a message across the Channel — France mean business.

The Azzurri started with plenty of positive intent and impressed with their ball retention.  But France's tackling early on was just as noteworthy.

The French opened the scoring when Dimitri Yachvili slotted a penalty after a 60m break by Malzieu put the Italian defence under pressure.  But the visitors domination of possession in the first quarter was rewarded when fly-half Kris Burton landed a neat drop goal to level matters.

France struck soon afterwards though when Rougerie spotted two font rowers in the Italian defensive line and ghosted between them to score.

Yachvili's extras put the hosts 10-3 in front and helped settle a few nerves after a jittery start, but a Burton penalty on the half-hour mark cut the gap to four points.

France had been struggling at scrum time but bucked the trend to produce a big shove and lay the platform for their second try.  Louis Picamoles broke off the back and burst into space before finding Malzieu on his outside.  The Clermont winger still had plenty to do but beat five defenders to find his way over after a brilliant run to give Les Bleus a comfortable advantage at the break.

Burton and Yachvili traded penalties early in the second period as Italy continued to do most of playing while France continued to profit from every opportunity offered them.

The wind was taken out of Italy's sails in the 54th minute when Vincent Clerc grabbed a third try for France after François Trinh-Duc had chipped ahead before the fly-half and Rougerie displayed some good football skills to give their wing an easy run-in.

Fofana rubbed salt into the Italian wounds as he finished off for try number four at the end of big overlap to cap France's best period of the game.

Italy will head home well beaten but Jacques Brunel will take plenty of positives from an encouraging performance.

Man of the match:  Louis Picamoles justified the new French staff's confidence in him with impressive display but we agree with the official gong for Julien Malzieu, who looked a dangerous whenever the ball found it's way to his wing.

Moment of the match:  The jury was unanimous here — Julien Malzieu's try just before half-time will go down as a candidate for Try of the Year.  Not only was it a fantastic solo effort from the big wing (and Louis Picamoles's work to create it was equally good) but it gave France an 11-point lead and dented the visitors' morale.

Villain of the match:  No nasty stuff to report.

The scorers:

For France:
Tries:  Rougerie, Malzieu, Clerc, Fofana
Cons:  Yachvili 2
Pens:  Yachvili 2

For Italy:
Pens:  Burton 2, Botes
Drop:  Burton

Yellow card:  Geldenhuys (Italy — 70th min — pulling maul down)

France:  15 Maxime Medard, 14 Vincent Clerc, 13 Aurelien Rougerie, 12 Wesley Fofana, 11 Julien Malzieu, 10 François Trinh-Duc, 9 Dimitri Yachvili, 8 Louis Picamoles, 7 Julien Bonnaire, 6 Thierry Dusautoir (c), 5 Lionel Nallet, 4 Pascal Pape, 3 Nicolas Mas, 2 William Servat, 1 Vincent Debaty.
Replacements:  16 Dimitri Szarzewski, 17 Jean-Baptiste Poux, 18 Yoann Maestri, 19 Imanol Harinordoquy, 20 Morgan Parra, 21 Lionel Beauxis, 22 Maxime Mermoz.

Italy:15 Andrea Masi, 14 Giovanbattista Venditti, 13 Tommaso Benvenuti, 12 Alberto Sgarbi, 11 Luke McLean, 10 Kristopher Burton, 9 Edoardo Gori, 8 Sergio Parisse (c) 7 Robert Barbieri, 6 Alessandro Zanni, 5 Quintin Geldenhuys, 4 Cornelius van Zyl, 3 Martin Castrogiovanni, 2 Leonardo Ghiraldini, 1 Andrea Lo Cicero.
Replacements:  16 Tommaso D'Apice, 17 Lorenzo Cittadini, 18 Marco Bortolami, 19 Simone Favaro, 20 Fabio Semenzato, 21 Tobias Botes, 22 Gonzalo Canale.

Venue:  Stade de France, St. Denis (Paris)
Referee:  Nigel Owens

Italy shock the defending champions

Italy made history on Saturday when they recorded their first ever Six Nations victory over France, winning 22-21 in a nail biter in Rome.

The defending Six Nations and Grand Slam champions outscored their hosts two tries to one but made far to many errors, allowing Mirco Bergamasco to slot six penalties and convert Andrea Masi's try to hand Italy the biggest victory in their rugby history.

So often the weak link in the Azzurri's game, Bergamasco landed six out of his eight kicks from the tee to punish the French for their sloppy indiscretions.

Indeed les Bleus will head back to Paris ruing a string of mistakes.  Many were made under pressure but some will leave coach French fans pulling their hair out and pointing fingers with wing Yoann Huget amongst those in the firing line.

10/1 underdogs at kick-off, Italy produced yet another courageous effort and must be given full marks for effort and commitment.  By contrast, their visitors seemed flat, uninspired and were unable to match the home side for physical intensity.

Contrary to what has become the norm, Italy's success was not built on scrum domination.  In fact, it was the French set piece that had the upper hand, and one could argue that they had a case for a potentially match-winning penalty in the dying minutes.  But rather than crying over split milk, Marc Lièvremont's team should look to their chronic sterility on attack and their knack for fluffing opportunities, exemplified by Aurelien Rougerie dropping the ball in the act of scoring for the second straight match.

An early try from Vincent Clerc gave France an 8-6 lead at the break.  It was a classic winger's try as Clerc latched onto Rougerie's long pass out wide before chipping over the last defender and using his pace to get to the ball first.

The game looked dead and buried when François Trinh-Duc and Morgan Parra linked up to slice through the Italian defence to put the scrum-half in under the sticks.

18-6 down going into the final quarter, a lesser team would have buckled.  But Italy never let there heads drop and were back in the game when Fabio Semenzato found Andrea Masi on the blindside and the full-back darted over from short range to revive his team's hopes.

Bergamasco landed two more penalties to Parra's one to set up a grandstand finish.  With just four minutes left on the clock the Italian wing landed his sixth successful kick to give the hosts the lead for the first time.

France plied the pressure in the dying minutes, but with Stadio Flaminio in full voice, the visitors were denied the penalty they sought.

And thus history was made.

Man of the match:  Tough one to call.  Sergio Parisse was at his brilliant best but how can we deny the try-scorer on such an historic occasion?  Andrea Masi was solid as a rock at the back and was rewarded with a try he'll never forget.

Moment of the match:  Italy trailed for 76 minutes, but the roar from the crowd when Mirco Bergamasco's final penalty split the uprights left no doubt as to who was ahead on the scoreboard when it mattered.

Villain of the match:  No rough stuff to report.

The scorers:

For Italy:
Try:  Masi
Con:  Bergamasco
Pens:  Bergamasco 5

For France:
Tries:  Clerc, Parra
Con:  Parra
Pens:  Parra 3

The teams:

Italy:  15 Andrea Masi, 14 Tommaso Benvenuti, 13 Gonzalo Canale, 12 Gonzalo Garcia, 11 Mirco Bergamasco, 10 Luciano Orquera, 9 Fabio Semenzato, 8 Sergio Parisse, 7 Robert Barbieri, 6 Alessandro Zanni, 5 Carlo Antonio Del Fava, 4 Santiago Dellape, 3 Martin Castrogiovanni, 2 Carlo Festuccia, 1 Andrea Lo Cicero.
Replacements:  16 Leonardo Ghiraldini, 17 Salvatore Perugini, 18 Quintin Geldenhuys, 19 Paul Derbyshire, 20 Pablo Canavosio, 21 Kristopher Burton, 22 Luke McLean.

France:  15 Maxime Médard, 14 Yoann Huget, 13 Aurelien Rougerie, 12 Yannick Jauzion, 11 Vincent Clerc, 10 Francois Trinh-Duc, 9 Morgan Parra, 8 Sébastien Chabal, 7 Julien Bonnaire, 6 Thierry Dusautoir (c), 5 Lionel Nallet, 4 Julien Pierre, 3 Nicolas Mas, 2 William Servat, 1 Sylvain Marconnet
Replacements:  16 Guilhem Guirado, 17 Luc Ducalcon, 18 Jerome Thion, 19 Imanol Harinordoquy, 20 Julien Tomas, 21 Damien Traille, 22 Clement Poitrenaud.

Venue:  Stadio Flaminio, Rome
Referee:  Bryce Lawrence (New Zealand)
Assistant referees:  Peter Fitzgibbon (Ireland), Stuart Terheege (England)
Television match official:  Jim Yuille (Scotland)

Rampant French one step away

Only eighty minutes and fifteen Englishmen separate France from a Grand Slam, after a thumping 46-20 win over Italy in Paris on Sunday.

Only a fool would bet against them now.  Their next opponents have managed only five tries this tournament, fewer than France managed all game against Italy.  They've shown the ability to win all different types of game:  the bullying power to beat Ireland, the patience to beat Scotland, the clinicality to beat Wales.  When it came to Italy, they displayed all the flair that has been bottled up this tournament, running Italy ragged at every opportunity.  It's a complete team which can, on its day, cover all bases.

It was no flawless performance.  The ball was turned over in open play nine times and they conceded more late soft tries, stats which could ruin a perfectly good Six Nations campaign against an English team as stubborn as it is limited.

But it was enough of a display to suggest that the French team has spent this tounament going through the gears and is about to hit top speed at the right moment.  We can leave further tributes -- the youth in so many key positions, the accuracy of the handling, the apparent unity among the players and the energy they produce -- until next week and if/when they have actually taken this campaign through to its conclusion, but there's little doubt in anybody's mind that the Grand Slam is now France's to lose.

Italy will head to Cardiff next week with their heads hanging low.  They tried gamely, but were thoroughly outclassed in pretty much all areas, including their much-vaunted scrum.  It's a team that has grown together and is laoded with experience but either needs a new leader or some new talent.

The entry of two teams to the Magners League could well be the missing link to the process, as long as the teams themselves ensure they keep it Italian and don't dilute their indigenous talents.  Players like the unfortunate Tito Tebaldi, who was sacrificed after just half an hour -- could be much better than they are now with a couple of years of regular first-class rugby behind them.  Nick Mallett must have spent the week jumping for joy this week, even if Sunday's display was a bit of a party-pooper.

Centre David Marty, preferred in the starting line-up to Mathieu Bastareaud, justified Lievremont's selection by scoring two tries in eight minutes, both while Italy were down to 14 men with Gonzalo Garcia in the sin bin.

Winger Marc Andreu and flanker Alexandre Lapandry both scored their first tries for their country, the former on his home debut.

And, with other tries coming from Imanol Harinordoquy and Yannick Jauzion, and Morgan Parra kicking seven goals from nine attempts, the French were heading for a landslide victory as they led 46-6 after 65 minutes.

But the Azzurri produced a spirited rally which brought them late tries through replacements Carlo Del Fava and Pablo Canavosio and Mirco Bergamasco added both conversions to two early penalties to give the score a touch of respectability which looked unthinkable for an hour when France were simply irresistible.

The French pack quickly asserted their authority to give half-backs Francois Trinh-Duc and Parra, making a seventh consecutive start together, the platform to unleash their dangerous three-quarters, while Clement Poitrenaud added an extra cutting edge from full-back.

It was Parra who created the game's first try, jinking his way through the Italian defence to get Harinordoquy over and he kicked the first of two penalties to make it 10-0.

The Italians' cause was made all the more difficult on 17 minutes when centre Garcia, fresh from a spell in blood bin, was sent to the sin bin for an obstruction of Andreu, who has been released on an exciting touchline dash by Poitrenaud.

France immediately made the extra man count as Marty coasted through a gap in the stretched Azzurri defence to score his side's second try, with Parra extending their lead to 17-0 with the conversion.

Poitrenaud demonstrated his attacking flair again on 27 minutes to help get Harinordoquy into space and he sent Marty over for his second try while the Italians were still down to 14 men.

The visitors could do little right and when they managed to breach the French defence second rower Marco Bortolami was recalled for a forward pass by Garcia.

Coach Nick Mallett responded to the mounting crisis by withdrawing scrum-half Tito Tebaldi in favour of the more experienced Canavosio and Italy finally got points on the board just before the break when Mirco Bergamasco landed a 40-metre penalty.

Parra lost his 100 per cent record when he failed to convert Marty's second try but he made amends with a long-range penalty two minutes into the second half.

Marty then thought he was on for a hat-trick after racing onto Parra's kick but he was ruled offside and instead Bergamasco pulled three points back with the resulting penalty.

That briefly encouraged the visitors and a neat pass out of the tackle by number eight Alessandro Zanni released Canavosio into space but Julien Bonnaire got back to preserve the French tryline.

If the Azzurri lacked a cutting edge, France were razor sharp and they quickly added to their try tally.

Andreu came in off his wing to produce a scything run that took him all the way to the line, and then produced the break that got Jauzion romping over.

Parra was off target for the second time with a long-range penalty but he was back in the groove on 65 minutes to convert a try by Lapandry, who produced a strong finish to a break from fellow replacement Julien Malzieu.

The Italians looked a dispirited lot as they gathered under the posts waiting for the conversion but they produced a spirited two-try rally to take some of the gloss off the French triumph.

Man of the match:  A close call between Clement Poitrenaud -- who got the match organisers' call -- and Marc Andreu.  We'll go for the winger on his full debut, for a work-rate far beyond that of a normal winger's and for proving, at 5'5 inches tall, that rugby can still be a game for all sizes.

Moment of the match:  France's third try.  Length of the field French classy brilliance.

Villian of the match:  Far too much running for players to waste their time on villainy.

The scorers:

For France:
Tries:  Harinordoquy, Marty 2, Andreu, Jauzion, Lapandry
Cons:  Parra 5
Pens:  Parra 2

For Italy:
Tries:  Del Fava, Canavosio
Cons:  Mirco Bergamasco 2
Pens:  Mirco Bergamasco 2

France:  15 Clement Poitrenaud, 14 Marc Andreu, 13 David Marty, 12 Yannick Jauzion, 11 Alexis Palisson, 10 François Trinh-Duc, 9 Morgan Parra, 8 Imanol Harinordoquy, 7 Julien Bonnaire, 6 Thierry Dusautoir (capt), 5 Julien Pierre, 4 Lionel Nallet, 3 Nicolas Mas, 2 William Servat, 1 Thomas Domingo.
Replacements:  16 Dimitri Szarzewski, 17 Jean-Baptiste Poux, 18 Sebastien Chabal, 19 Alexandre Lapandry, 20 Dimitri Yachvili, 21 Mathieu Bastareaud, 22 Julien Malzieu.

Italy:  15 Luke McLean, 14 Andrea Masi, 13 Gonzalo Canale, 12 Gonzalo Garcia, 11 Mirco Bergamasco, 10 Craig Gower, 9 Tito Tebaldi, 8 Alessandro Zanni, 7 Mauro Bergamasco, 6 Josh Sole, 5 Marco Bortolami, 4 Quintin Geldenhuys, 3 Martin Castrogiovanni, 2 Leonardo Ghiraldini (captain), 1 Salvatore Perugini.
Replacements:  16 Fabio Ongaro, 17 Matias Aguero, 18 Carlo Antonio Del Fava, 19 Paul Derbyshire, 20 Pablo Canavosio, 21 Riccardo Bocchino, 22 Kaine Roberston.

Referee:  Alan Lewis (Ireland)
Assistant referees:  Bryce Lawrence (New Zealand), David Changleng (Scotland)
Television match official:  Hugh Watkins (Wales)
Assessor:  Michel Lamoulie (France)

France run riot in Rome

France banished the ghost of Twickenham past at the first time of asking as they demolished Italy 50-8 in a classy showing at the Stadio Flaminio on Saturday.

So much their pride was dented after going down by 24 points at English rugby's HQ, sleepless nights had marred Les Bleus' build-up for their final Six Nations fixture of 2009.

But in blustery yet sunny conditions, Marc Lièvremont's side were completely unrecognisable from last week as they cut loose with a blistering seven tries erasing any lasting memories of that horror defeat.

Four changes were made in preparation for the contest but it could be argued that none really made much difference as all members involved six days ago had scores to personal matters to settle...and that they did in emphatic style with Italy having no answers to the men in blue.

The visitors got the ball rolling early on as they took the early steam out of the usual Azzurri fight with the assured Morgan Parra and Francois Trinh-Duc acting as puppeteers for a thoroughly entertaining show.

Bourgoin's number nine knocked over two penalties before sixteen minutes had past as he beat the slightly testing elements to open up a 6-0 lead whilst putting his pack in the correct places.

Then on the other side of an Andrea Marcato three points, France were back into their stride with a moment of brilliance lifting the game to new heights.  First it was the size of Yannick Jauzion who rose well to claim a Garryowen before unleashing Sebastien Chabal down the left wing.  The second row had 20 metres separating him from five points and with the ball in one hand like a small child, he crashed over with Parra's conversion soon to follow.

Chabal's score proved to be the catalyst of something memorable in Rome -- for everyone other than the hosts -- as two quick-fire tries were not too far in coming.  From a lineout on halfway, it was fly-half Trinh-Duc who answered his critics with a glorious dummy and step before racing to the whitewash before less than a minute later, Maxime Medard added his name to the list as he finished off Thierry Dusautoir's good work.

France were doing what England had done to them as the possession stakes read an unbelievable 78 per cent in favour of the visitors!

Things did not get any better for the Italians moments after the turnaround though, as flanker Mauro Bergamasco reinacted his own Twickenham nightmare with a shocking pass that was gobbled up by Cedric Heymans as the fourth try was posted.

Before kick-off a punter could have got France at a tempting 100/1 to finish the tournament in second place as a healthy win coupled with Scotland and Ireland winning later in the day was the task.

And with captain Lionel Nallet getting in on the act on 55 minutes, the more conservative among us were left on tenterhooks.

More woe was to come for Italy in the end though, as a second try for Medard and one for replacement winger Julien Malzieu brought up the half-century to add extra gloss to what was another wooden spoon for the hosts.

Man of the match:  Despite leaving the procession midway through the second period, Morgan Parra was superb at the base and wider out.  However, the man one out from him was even better as Francois Trinh-Duc's individual score was great reward for his performance.

The scorers:

For Italy:
Tries:  Parisse
Pen:  Marcato

For France:
Tries:  Chabal, Trinh-Duc, Medard 2, Heymans, Nallet, Malzieu
Con:  Parra 3
Pen:  Parra 3

Italy:  15 Andrea Marcato, 14 Giulio Rubini, 13 Gonzalo Canale, 12 Mirco Bergamasco, 11 Matteo Pratichetti, 10 Luke McLean, 9 Paul Griffen, 8 Sergio Parisse (c), 7 Mauro Bergamasco, 6 Alessandro Zanni, 5 Marco Bortolami, 4 Santiago Dellape, 3 Carlos Nieto, 2 Leonardo Ghiraldini, 1 Salvatore Perugini.
Replacements:  16 Franco Sbaraglini, 17 Martin Castrogiovanni, 18 Carlo Antonio Del Fava, 19 Josh Sole, 20 Pablo Canavosio, 21 Luciano Orquera, 22 Roberto Quartaroli.

France:  15 Damien Traille, 14 Maxime Medard, 13 Florian Fritz, 12 Yannick Jauzion, 11 Cedric Heymans, 10 Francois Trinh-Duc, 9 Morgan Parra, 8 Imanol Harinordoquy, 7 Julien Bonnaire, 6 Thierry Dusautoir, 5 Sebastien Chabal, 4 Lionel Nallet (c), 3 Sylvain Marconnet, 2 Dimitri Szarzewski, 1 Fabien Barcella.
Replacements:  16 William Servat, 17 Thomas Domingo, 18 Jerome Thion, 19 Louis Picamoles, 20 Frederic Michalak, 21 Mathieu Bastareaud, 22 Julien Malzieu.

Referee:  Alain Rolland (Ireland)
Touch judges:  Stuart Dickinson (Australia), Peter Fitzgibbon (Ireland)
Television match official:  Graham Hughes (England)

France emerge victorious in kick-fest

France were the victors in a frustrating encounter in Marseilles on Saturday, beating rivals Argentina 12-6 in a game that was dominated by the boot.

After their last encounter, a fiery Argentinean victory at the World Cup, all the signs pointed towards an equally ferocious meeting, with plenty of attacking rugby.  The reality was quite different, yes there was niggle in the game, but the physical edge was lacking somewhat.

Couple that with the fact that some of the best running rugby players in world rugby had an obsession with kicking and you soon get a flavour of the game.  Needless to say it was a frustrating spectacle, leaving one's mind boggled at the thought of just how frustrating it was to play in the game, and lacked any fluidity.

Really, the game can best be summed up by one startling fact - it took France fifty minutes to go through an attack that lasted more than six phases.  Nearly every other attack, from both sides, culminated in a kick, and most of the kicks were aimless.

It is difficult to judge either side on this outing, other than to say they both need to scrub up on their kicking out of hand.  A light rain ensured the scrums, which had promised to be a tasty spectacle, materialised into nothing more than a squelching pile of bodies - although Argentina did manage to poach a couple against the head.

As one would expect with so many naturally talented footballers on display, there were moments of brilliance that gave the spectator a jab in the ribs to rouse them from their slumber.  But no sooner had one's waning hope of some decent rugby fluttered a little than a knock-on or ill-advised kick ensured it dozed off once more.

Felipe Contepomi fluffed a simple chance to give his side the lead early on, after Dimitri Szarzewski went in off his feet at the breakdown, but he pushed his kick well wide of the uprights.  As it was David Skrela slotted a drop goal moments later to give the hosts the lead.

With the game becoming increasingly fragmented, not helped by both sides' insistence on kicking any possession inside their own half, scoring chances became something of a rarity.  So much so that when Argentina were awarded a penalty just shy of the half hour mark, it was no surprise that Contepomi stepped up to level the scores.

It didn't take France long to restore their lead, less than sixty seconds to be precise.  Argentina opted to run the kick-off back, only to see Bernardo Stortoni penalised for holding on.  Skrela, rather carelessly, put his kick in off the upright from straight in front.  Nevertheless France had their narrow lead back.

A third penalty moments later, this time from a booming long range Benoit Baby effort, extended that lead further and France suddenly started to come out of their shells.  However another needless penalty at the breakdown put an end to their attacking sortie, as Contepomi clipped their lead back to three points going into half time.

Any prospects of an improved second half performance soon faded as both sides continued where they had left off.  But for a searing break from Maxime Médard ten minutes in the game would have been completely void of action.

The only points of the half came from, you guessed it, the boot as Skrela added another penalty with four minutes to go.  Argentina rallied for a moment, but their charge for victory fizzled out, much as their status in world rugby has since the world cup.

In that neither side will have learnt much from this game, rendering a near pointless exercise, it will be intriguing to see how they fare over the coming weeks.  We all know they both have the ability to play devastating rugby, which gives rise to the theory they simply nullified each other here, but they need to step it up for all occasions.

Man of the Match:  It's difficult to pick anyone from such a messy game, but France's Louis Picamoles was a rare bright spot.  Every time he had the ball he caused problems, several times he bowled defenders out of his path as he marauded forward.  Sadly he had little support in his quest.

Moment of the Match:  Sad to say but the final whistle was a relief, as this was a truly abysmal Test match.  If the fly-halves were not kicking then knock-ons and needless penalties were ruining the game.  We had looked forward to this game for so long, but when it finally arrived it failed to deliver in the slightest, unless that is you tuned in to watch France play Argentina at football.

Villain of the Match:  This award goes to the respective team tacticians who decided the best way to win a game of rugby was by kicking the ball away at every possible occasion.  We are meant to be, under the ELVs, be watching a more exciting brand of rugby, someone needs to remind these two sides how to score tries.

The Scorers:

For France:
Pens:  Skrela 2, Baby
Drop goal:  Skrela

For Argentina:
Pens:  Contepomi 2

The Teams:

France:  15 Maxime Médard, 14 Julien Malzieu, 13 Yannick Jauzion, 12 Benoit Baby, 11 Cedric Heymans, 10 David Skrela, 9 Jean Baptiste Elissalde, 8 Louis Picamoles, 7 Imanol Harinordoquy, 6 Thierry Dusautoir, 5 Lionel Nallet (c), 4 Romain Millo Chluski, 3 Benoit Lecouls, 2 Dimitri Szarzewski, 1 Fabien Barcella.
Replacements:  16 Benjamin Kayser, 17 Nicolas Mas, 18 Sebastien Chabal, 19 Fulgence Ouedraogo, 20 Morgan Parra, 21 Damien Traille, 22 Alexis Palisson.

Argentina:  15 Bernardo Stortoni, 14 Francisco Leonelli, 13 Gonzalo Tiesi, 12 Felipe Contepomi (c), 11 Horacio Agulla, 10 Juan Martin Hernandez, 9 Nicolás Vergallo, 8 Juan Martin Fernandez Lobbe, 7 Álvaro Galindo, 6 Martín Alberto Durand, 5 Patricio Albacete, 4 Rimas Alvarez Kairelis, 3 Juan-Pablo Orlandi, 2 Mario Ledesma, 1 Rodrigo Roncero
Replacements:  16 Alberto Vernet Basualdo, 17 Marcos Ayerza, 18 Esteban Lozada, 19 Alejandro Campos, 20 Agustín Figuerola, 21 Federico Martín Aramburú, 22 Rafael Carballo.

Referee:  Steve Walsh (New Zealand)
Touch judges:  Mark Lawrence (South Africa), Peter Allan (Scotland)
Television match official:  Johann Meuwesen (South Africa)

"Sea-bass" stars as Italy flounder

France started their 2007 Six Nations campaign in perfect style with a convincing 3-39 victory over Italy at Stadio Flaminio on Saturday.  Having looked rusty in the opening quarter France finally found their straps and dominated for the remainder of a one-sided affair.

We thought Italy might give France a scare, maybe even a nasty surprise.  In the event, the mental fragility under pressure that has gnawed away at Italy's progress in other areas once again undermined their efforts.

Pierre Berbizier accused his counterpart Bernard Laporte of wasting playing resources this week, but the majority of the wastage came from his own team, who enjoyed stacks of possession yet barely crossed the gain-line most of the time, never mind the French defensive line.

The Azzurri were not short of opportunity, but the execution was shocking -- never better exemplified than just before half-time, when Fabio Ongaro butchered a two-man overlap and instead lost possession in the tackle.

Italy also had two penalty kicks in the first five minutes, both eminently kickable, but Andrea Scannavacca missed the first when he slipped on the threadbare, sandy turf, and Roland de Marigny's attempt looked as though he had booted a set of bagpipes.  It barely made the try-line.

Thus did a lot of good Italian build-up play, particularly from both Bergamasci and Sergio Parisse, go to waste, and thus did the confidence wane.  For much of the second half, they rarely rose beyond three-quarters pace, with the backs standing flat and the forwards not producing clean enough ball.

France, on the other hand, look to have made significant steps forward since November.  Pierre Mignoni's brisk service and acceleration at scrum-half added some zip to the play around the pack fringes, which was France's main avenue of attack.

Sébastian Chabal finally brought shades of his Sale form to the blue shirt around those fringes, and David Skréla looked comfortable at fly-half, although he was provided with plenty of space by his pack and by Mignoni.  Stiffer tests might exploit a slight slowness of service, but experience might speed it up too.

The French pack as a whole proved more than equal to the Italian pack, and the first score of the game came as a direct result, when Olivier Milloud scrummed Carlos Nieto to pieces on the Italian 22.  Skréla kicked the penalty to make it 0-3 after eight minutes.

The next score came as a direct result of that poor Italian execution.  After Parisse and Mirco Bergamsco had made good ground, out the ball came left to De Marigny, but his pass for Ongaro went to ground and Dominici hacked on, and on again, before picking up on the bounce and sauntering under the posts.

That score -- Skréla made it 0-10 with the conversion -- was after 24 minutes, and it was a lone bright spark in some pretty grim stuff.  Any Italian breaks got bogged down by slow support, and France were conservative in approach, and effective in their conservatism.

Only once did the backs stitch some passes together, with Clément Poitrenaud, Mignoni, Skréla and Florian Fritz all involved, but the latter chipped when an offload would have been more appropriate and gave the ball away.

France extended the lead on the half-hour mark with a try that owed everything to Mignoni's will to attack.  When the scrum-half sucked in two defenders on the blind side, his flat pass was expertly flicked on by Skréla to Cédric Heymans, who was clean down the left and also went under the posts, Skréla making it 0-17.

Sébastian Chabal scored his first try for France right on half-time, with Mignoni once again making some yards around the fringe, and Raphaël Ibañez driving on to 2m from the line before the number eight's enormous hirsute figure ploughed over the line.  Skréla hit the post with the conversion, and at 3-22, that was the end of a disappoiting first half.

The second half barely rose above the pedestrian.  France were quite content to close proceedings out away from their own half, and even more so after Chabal had taken Mignoni's clever flat pop for his second try after 44 minutes, with Skréla's conversion making it 3-29.

Bar a brief flurry from the backs early on, Italy offered nothing, and worryingly for them, the substitutes didn't make any difference either.  France, as a whole, shut up shop magnificently, but there was nothing Italy could find to pick the locks open.

From another Italian handling error, Skréla nearly claimed his first try in French colours when he hacked through another dropped Italian pass, but was denied in the corner by Mirco Bergamasco.

Then on the hour mark Jauzion did claim the sixth try, after Poitrenaud and Heymans had won back a high Skréla kick and drawn the covering defence.

Substitute Lionel Beauxis claimed his first points in French senior colours, landing a late penalty judiciously kicked while Chabal was treated after a heavy collision, and rounding off the scoring.

So plenty of firsts for the French, and a new dawn of sorts after November's dark patch, but precious little light for Italy, who have seven days to forget this performance before stepping into England's HQ.

Man of the match:  Has to be French.  Mauro Bergamasco and Gonzalo Canale played well for Italy in parts, and Pierre Mignoni has confirmed his presence on France's healthy list of top-notch scrum-halves.  But today's excellence was France number eight Sébastian Chabal, whose running and strength, as well as his two tries, gave France the perfect platform to go forward.

Moment of the match:  Cédric Heymans' try, or more specifically, David Skréla's sleight of hand that set the Toulouse winger on his way.

Villain of the match:  Nothing to report.  Italy were too submissive and France too focussed for any villainy.

The Scorers:

For Italy:
Pen:  Pez

For France:
Tries:  Dominici, Heymans, Chabal 2, Jauzion
Cons:  Skréla 4
Pens:  Skréla, Beauxis

The Teams:

Italy:  15 Roland de Marigny, 14 Denis Dallan, 13 Gonzalo Canale, 12 Mirco Bergamasco, 11 Andrea Masi, 10 Andrea Scanavacca, 9 Paul Griffen, 8 Sergio Parisse, 7 Mauro Bergamasco, 6 Josh Sole, 5 Marco Bortolami (c), 4 Santiago Dellapè, 3 Carlos Nieto, 2 Fabio Ongaro, 1 Salvatore Perugini
Replacements:  16 Carlo Festuccia, 17 Andrea Lo Cicero, 18 Martín Leandro Castrogiovanni, 19 Roberto Mandelli, 20 Alessandro Troncon, 21 Ramiro Pez, 22 Kaine Robertson

France:  15 Clément Poitrenaud, 14 Christophe Dominici, 13 Florian Fritz, 12 Yannick Jauzion, 11 Cédric Heymans, 10 David Skréla, 9 Pierre Mignoni, 8 Sebastian Chabal, 7 Julien Bonnaire, 6 Serge Betsen, 5 Lionel Nallet, 4 Jérôme Thion, 3 Pieter de Villiers, 2 Raphaël Ibañez (c), 1 Olivier Milloud.
Replacements:  16 Dimitri Szarzewski, 17 Sylvain Marconnet, 18 Pascal Papé, 19 Imañol Harinordoquy, 20 Dimitri Yachvili, 21 Lionel Beauxis, 22 Vincent Clerc.

Referee:  Wayne Barnes (England)
Touch judges:  Dave Pearson (England), Rob Debney (England)
Television match official:  Tim Hayes (Wales)
Assessor:  Michel Lamoulie (France)