France survive Italy scare to move closer to Grand Slam
MATCH REPORT: France’s hopes of retaining their Six Nations crown and securing a Grand Slam remain firmly on track after a 33-8 victory over Italy in Lille on Sunday.
The reigning champions were once again clinical when it mattered, claiming their third straight bonus-point win of the campaign to maintain momentum at the top of the standings.
*To recap all the action CLICK HERE!
Louis Bielle-Biarrey etched his name into the record books by scoring in a record eighth consecutive Six Nations match, underlining his remarkable consistency on the wing.
Further scores from Emmanuel Meafou, Thomas Ramos, debutant Gael Drean and Emilien Gailleton gave France a third straight bonus point victory in this season’s tournament.
Italy’s points came via a try of Ange Capuozzo and a Paolo Garbisi penalty.
Try-machine Bielle-Biarrey struck inside three minutes for his 24th try in 25 Test matches for France.
Les Bleus looked set to run away with the victory after further scores from Emmanuel Meafou and Ramos but the Azzurri hit back with a Capuozzo try.
However, wing Gael Drean’s debut try after Italy winger Louis Lynagh had been yellow-carded, and another from Emilien Gailleton put the gloss on France’s victory and kept them on course for the Grand Slam.
France went back to the top of the Six Nations table after Scotland had replaced them with a comeback 26-23 win over Wales on Saturday.
Fabien Galthie’s team maintained the only unbeaten record in the tournament so far this season, but ever-improving Italy once again impressed, although it could have been much better for Gonzalo Quesada’s team if their line-out had not faltered repeatedly.
The final score was harsh on Italy, who remain fifth in the table.
Wings no match for Meafou
France needed only three minutes to strike as Italy winger Lynagh spilled a high ball straight into Antoine Dupont’s arms and the France captain kicked ahead for the turbo-heeled Bielle-Biarrey to outpace Capuozzo and dot down.
With Matthieu Jallibert ruled out of the match with a calf issue late on Saturday, Ramos lined up at flyhalf for just the seventh time on his 50th cap.
He made a poor start, throwing an interception and kicking out on the full.
But his stunning 50/22 gave France field position to stretch Italy before Dupont teed up hulking lock Meafou with only wingers Lynagh and Monty Ioane blocking his way to the line.
They were no match for the New Zealand-born and Australia-raised second rower.
Italy were well in the match but three times coughed up the ball within sight of the tryline to let France off.
And they paid dearly with an overthrown line-out hacked on by Bielle-Biarrey for Gailleton to charge 50 metres downfield before Ramos finished off the counter-attack in the corner.
Italy needed a way back into the game and Ramos gave it to them after Tommaso Menoncello’s brilliant grubber, throwing a hospital pass behind his tryline to Theo Attissogbe, allowing Capuozzo to dive on a loose ball to trim Italy’s arrears.
Paolo Garbisi missed the conversion from the touchline but kicked a penalty to bring Italy back to 19-8 behind at half-time.
The second half was a scrappy affair until Lynagh’s late yellow-card for a deliberate knock-on opened the door for France to finish with aplomb with two tries in the last 10 minutes.
Drean picked up Ramos’s crossfield kick in acres of space to score before Gailleton ghosted in for the final try.
Player of the Match: Far from spectacular, but effective. The French may have lacked their usual flair, yet they still managed to grind out the win. They were clinical when it mattered most, and that ultimately proved to be the difference. Italy brought intensity throughout, with Ange Capuozzo providing spark and attacking intent. For France, Antoine Dupont controlled the tempo and dictated proceedings with authority. However, our nod goes to Thomas Ramos. Earning his 50th cap, the fly-half delivered a composed and assured performance. His accurate kicking kept France on the front foot, and he capped it off with a well-taken try to seal a standout display.
The scorers:
For France:
Tries: Bielle-Biarrey, Meafou, Ramos, Drean, Gailleton
Cons: Ramos 4
For Italy:
Try: Capuozzo
Pen: Garbissi
Teams:
France: 15 Theo Attissogbe, 14 Gael Drean, 13 Emilien Gailleton, 12 Fabien Brau-Boirie, 11 Louis Bielle-Biarrey, 10 Thomas Ramos, 9 Antoine Dupont (captain), 8 Anthony Jelonch, 7 Oscar Jegou, 6 Francois Cros, 5 Emmanuel Meafou, 4 Thibaud Flament, 3 Dorian Aldegheri, 2 Julien Marchand, 1 Jean-Baptiste Gros.
Replacements: 16 Peato Mauvaka, 17 Rodrigue Neti, 18 Georges-Henri Colombe, 19 Charles Ollivon, 20 Mickael Guillard, 21 Lenni Nouchi, 22 Baptiste Serin, 23 Pierre-Louis Barassi.
Italy: 15 Ange Capuozzo, 14 Louis Lynagh, 13 Tommaso Menoncello, 12 Leonardo Marin, 11 Monty Ioane, 10 Paolo Garbisi, 9 Alessandro Fusco, 8 Lorenzo Cannone, 7 Manuel Zuliani, 6 Michele Lamaro (captain), 5 Andrea Zambonin, 4 Niccolo Cannone, 3 Simone Ferrari, 2 Giacomo Nicotera, 1 Danilo Fischetti.
Replacements: 16 Pablo Dimcheff, 17 Mirco Spagnolo, 18 Giosue Zilocchi, 19 Federico Ruzza, 20 Riccardo Favretto, 21 David Odiase, 22 Alessandro Garbisi, 23 Paolo Odogwu.
Referee: Andrew Brace (Ireland)
Assistant referees: Luke Pearce (England), Eoghan Cross (Ireland)
TMO: Olly Hodges (Ireland)
