VIBE
France strolled past Italy to claim the 10-man rugby WBA title relinquished by South Africa earlier in the evening. In a game riddled with penalties, handling mistakes and forward bromance, the boys of Thierry Dusautoir dominated the set play and the tight channels, with the tighthead prop and his replacement scoring one try each.
After a promising start, the game turned into a slugfest, as dull as a concussed prop doing a mid-game interview. The PSA gameplan worked well: a frustrating sliding defence, strong breakdown work (Ben Arous was a standout) and powerful scrums provided the team with enough possession to take control of the midfield. Whatever was planned next was left to the discretion of players, who trucked it up around the edges of the rucks effectively (Picamoles, Papé) but were let down on most occasions afterwards by the lack of support runners.
The French attack was shapeless, realignment nonexistent. These features were also on display for the Azzurri, who lost the regulator of their backline early on. Outmuscled, the Italians ran out of ideas but managed to score via Venditti late in the second half after the French characteristically lost focus. A no less characteristic show of pride saw Les Bleus dot the ball a second time through Mas to claim an ordinary win.
SCORE
France
Tries: Slimani, Mas
Conversions: Michalak 2
Penalties: Michalak 5, Spedding
Italy
Tries: Venditti
Conversions: Allan
Penalties: Allan
Score at half-time: 15-3
INCIDENTS OF NOTE
Certainly the injury to France’s in-form winger, Yoann Huget. The mad dog from Toulouse fell awkwardly after what seemed like an innocuous step, and probably injured his ligament. Rumour has it that he’s about to be replaced in the squad by Rémy Grosso, another rookie also known as the white Lomu. As explosive as he may be, he’s not overly safe under the high ball. With Nakaitaci and Guitoune the only wingers remaining, there is little doubt bomb-defusing will be a full-time job for the back three against Ireland.
FEAST YOUR EYES
While poor support play has come to characterise Les Bleus on attack, they still managed a few brilliant moves in broken play last night. Their first try came off an elusive run by Nakaitaci from deep inside his half almost to the opposite 22 m, where he passed it to the hooker running a great converging line. Guirado then held Luke MacLean at bay a la Manolete before dumping him on the ground and perishing a few cm short of the tryline. After a couple of (patchy) phases, Michalak kicked a wonderful little chip through the rushing Italian defence for Slimani who gathered it and scored under the posts.
SHOULD I BOTHER WATCHING IT?
Unless you’re suffering from serious sleep deprivation or work as a video analyst for one of the RWC teams, I would not advise it. The highlights below (courtesy of World Rugby) should be more than enough.
