France v Italy - Teams and Predictions
SIX NATIONS ROUND ONE: France host Italy on Sunday in both sides’ opening game of this year’s Six Nations.
Here AFP Sport looks at three points ahead of the fixture:
Covid cloud
On Friday France head coach Fabien Galthie told AFP he had tested positive for Covid-19 with team manager Raphael Ibanez taking hands on charge of the team for the game.
Five members of Galthie’s squad have recently recovered from the illness including world player of the year Antoine Dupont, who has played just once since December 11.
Two forwards in Toulouse lock Thibaud Flament and La Rochelle hooker Pierre Bourgarit have been unable to join up with the team after also contracting the virus. The entire Les Bleus set-up will be tested again late on Saturday around 24 hours from kick-off.
Favourites France
According to some bookmakers, Galthie’s side are the leading contenders for the title. They have lost just once at home since he took over after the 2019 Rugby World Cup and welcome two of their most difficult opponents, Ireland and England, to Paris.
An unbeaten November series which included an impressive first win over New Zealand since 2009 also boosted France’s credentials as they eye a first Six Nations crown in 12 years.
“We’re very happy to hear and receive these types of comments,” Galthie said at last month’s tournament launch.
Garbisi’s ‘lucky’ Italy
Italy are without a win in the tournament since 2015 as head coach Kieran Crowley, at the helm for his first Six Nations, continues to blood fresh faces into his side.
Two debutants in No.8 Toa Halafihi and wing Tommaso Menoncello start and halfbacks Paolo Garbisi and Stephen Varney have just 22 caps between them. Garbisi has scored 126 points this term in his first season at Montpellier and has overshadowed South Africa’s Handre Pollard to claim the No. 10 shirt as his own.
“We have a very young team, who lack a little bit of experience, but we’re lucky to be young, it’s something positive because we’ll still be in the national team set-up in 10-12 years’ time,” Garbisi told AFP this week.
Players to watch
For France: The halfback pairing of Romain Ntamack and Antoine Dupont is an exciting one to watch and they will certainly be running the show in Paris. Meanwhile, wing Damian Penaud is now mainstay in Fabien Galthie’s starting line-up and heads into this season’s Six Nations with seven tries in 13 club appearances despite his domestic side’s inconsistent form this term. In the pack, France have plenty of talent in the back row in the form of Gregory Alldritt, Dylan Cretin and Anthony Jelonch.
For Italy: Amid a stretch of 32 successive Six Nations defeats, a run dating back to 2015, it is hard to see many positives for Italy ahead of what promises to be another gruelling Six Nations. Paolo Garbisi, however, could provide a ray of hope if he maintains the form that has seen him supplant World Cup winner Handre Pollard as fly-half at French club Montpellier.
Head to head
Prediction
@rugby365com: France by 30 points.
France: 15 Melvyn Jaminet, 14 Damian Penaud, 13 Jonathan Danty, 12 Gael Fickou, 11 Gabin Villiere, 10 Romain Ntamack, 9 Antoine Dupont (captain), 8 Gregory Alldritt, 7 Dylan Cretin, 6 Anthony Jelonch, 5 Paul Willemse, 4 Cameron Woki, 3 Uini Atonio, 2 Julien Marchand, 1 Cyril Baille.
Replacements: 16 Peato Mauvaka, 17 JeanBaptiste Gros, 18 Demba Bamba, 19 Romain Taofifenua, 20 Francois Cros, 21 Maxime Lucu, 22 Yoram Moefana, 23 Thomas Ramos.
Italy: 15 Edoardo Padovani, 14 Tommaso Menoncello, 13 Juan Ignacio Brex, 12 Marco Zanon, 11 Monty Ioane, 10 Paolo Garbisi, 9 Stephen Varney, 8 Toa Halafihi, 7 Michele Lamaro (captain), 6 Sebastian Negri, 5 Federico Ruzza, 4 Niccolo Cannone, 3 Tiziano Pasquali, 2 Gianmarco Lucchesi, 1 Danilo Fischetti.
Replacements: 16 Epalahame Faiva, 17 Ivan Nemer, 18 Giosue Zilocchi, 19 Marco Fuser, 20 Giovanni Pettinelli, 21 Manuel Zuliani, 22 Callum Braley, 23 Leonardo Marin.
Date: Sunday, February 6
Venue: Stade de France, Paris
Kick-off: 16.00 (15.00 GMT)
Expected weather: There will be light rain with strong winds. High of 12°C and a low of 3°C.
Referee: Mike Adamson
Assistant Referees: Nika Amashukeli, Damon Murphy
TMO: Brett Cronan
