Italy came into this one full of confidence following their win at Murrayfield. France made seven changes from the team beaten by Wales and Saint-Andre seemed to have taken a scatter gun approach to who got the blame.
Italy 0 – France 29
First half
Anyone who looked at the Six Nations kicking stats may have thought that they were in for an exciting running game as two of the sides who have preferred to keep ball in hand clashed in Rome. If so, they would have been sorely disappointed with the dross that was served up.
The story of the first half was a story littered with errors from both sides. When Lopez’ shinned kick was return via the boot of Parisse, far too long and over the try line, it set the tone for what was to follow.
Italy got the first chance of the game when Le Roux was pinged for not supporting his own body weight. Allan missed from in front of the posts.
Italy’s first choice flyhalf, Haimona, pulled out with an injury 24 hours before the game. They were down to their third choice, Orquera, after just 13 minutes when Allan had to go off having aggravated a groin strain.
Tomasso Allan & Camile Lopez – The starting flyhalves for both teams went off injured
Orquera had a chance to make an instant impact when Mermoz was penalised for taking Parisse out in the air. The penalty struck the post and France were able to clear.
Spedding then missed from the tee following a scrum penalty as we passed the 20 minute mark with the game still scoreless.
It wasn’t until the 28th minute that we final got some movement on the scoreboard as Lopez converted a penalty to put France 3-0 up.
Italy were unlucky to concede another penalty as Minto was adjudged to have kicked the ball out of the scrumhalf’s hands. Replays seemed to suggest it was a knock on. Lopez was unconcerned with the merit of the award and duly converted for 6-0 with just over five minutes to the break.
Sergio Parisse – ploughed a lone furrow for Italy today
It’s been noticeable that this year has seen a change in how referees have been reffing the scrum. They are far more reticent to award a penalty if there’s any possiblity of the ball emerging. So just on the stroke of half-time JP Doyle allowed a scrum to go on to the point that it resembled a cocktail party hosted in an elevator before awarding France a shot at the posts in the Italian 22.
Spedding converted to make it 9-0 to France at half time. Both teams made plenty of mistakes but France’s accuracy from the tee was the difference between the sides.
Second Half
France tacked on another three points within a minute of the restart as Parisse was isolated due to a lack of support; Plisson converting this one.
A wayward kick from Orquera was punished when Spedding had a go from his own 22. He found space on the right wing and made it to the Italian 10-metre line before offloading. The move was halted just inside the 22 but the French recycled quickly and Fikou and Huget combined to put Maestri over in the corner. Plisson added the extras to make it 19-0 after 46 minutes.
Scott Spedding – his run from his own 22 set up the opening try
We then had another period littered with errors as Italy tried desperately to get something to spark them into life. They won a penalty about seven metres out and decided to go to the corner. Somehow Orquera managed to kick it out further from the try line. Dusatoir stole the lineout from Furno’s grasp and France cleared.
France stretched their lead to 22 points when Venditti failed to roll away. Plisson converted and France were out of sight with just over 20 minutes to go.
France’s maul was one of the few elements of their game that was going well. So when they won a penalty in the Italian half they kicked to the corner. The plan was to catch and drive but as most plans in this game it fell apart as they failed to secure the lineout.
Italy lost their talismanic captain, Parisse, with five minutes to go. The day he became Italy’s most capped player won’t be one he looks back on with fond memories.
France added another try in the red numbers as Bastareaud rumbled over under the posts. Plisson converted and JP Doyle blew up to end the misery. Final score 29-0.
The wrap up
This was one of the worst games I’ve ever had to sit through. There were more errors than an offline internet server.
France badly needed a win and no matter how ugly it was today this will boost their confidence. Hopefully the quality of their play improves next week. Surely it can’t get worse.
Italy still seemed a little hungover from celebrating their win over Scotland. They’ll look to improve and give their fans something to cheer in their final game. If they perform this badly again, with Wales chasing a big score, it may be an endurance event for the Italian faithful in the stands.
[one_half last=”no”]
The Game Changer
The first try by Maestri put France three scores ahead and effectively killed the game off as a contest.
A wayward kick from Italy was collected by Spedding whose jinking run led to France moving from one 22 to the other. A quick recycle and good hands from Fikou and Huget created an overlap in the corner.
It was the one piece of true quality in the entire game and the 19 point margin was a mountain that Italy were never going to climb.
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[one_half last=”yes”]
The G&GR MOTM
The non-playing reserves were in with a shout by virtue of the fact that those on the field made so many errors.
For Italy Parisse was a lone figure in putting in a decent performance, although even he made errors.
France won comfortably but I’m struggling to pick out players who’d be happy with their performance today. Jules Plisson was only on for the second half but he landed his kicks and gave France a little more direction so he’s my pick of a bad bunch as MOTM.[/one_half]
The Details
Score & Scorers
[one_half last=”no”]Italy 0
[/one_half]
[one_half last=”yes”]France 29
Tries: Maestri (45), Bastareaud (80)
Conversions: Plisson (46, 80)
Penalties: Lopez (28, 34), Spedding (40), Plisson (41)
[/one_half][one_half last=”no”]
Cards & citings
[/one_half]
[one_half last=”yes”]
Crowd
52,000
[/one_half]
The Teams
Italy
1. M. Aguero, 2. L. Ghiraldini, 3. D. Chistolini, 4. G. Biagi, 5. J. Furno, 6. F. Minto, 7. S. Vunisa, 8. S. Parisse, 9. E. Gori, 10. T. Allan, 11. G. Venditti, 12. A. Masi, 13. L. Morisi, 14. L. Sarto, 15. L. McLean.
Reserves: 16. A. Manici, 17. A. de Marchi, 18. L. Cittadini, 19. Q. Geldenhuys, 20. M. Barbini, 21. G. Palazzani, 22. L. Orquera, 23. E. Bacchin.
France
1. E. Ben Arous, 2. G. Guirado, 3. N. Mas, 4. A. Flanquart, 5. Y. Maestri, 6. T. Dusatoir, 7. B. Le Roux, 8. L. Goujon, 9. S. Tillous-Borde, 10. C. Lopez, 11. N. Nakaitaci, 12. M. Mermoz, 13. G. Fickou, 14. Y. Huget, 15. S. Spedding.
Reserves: 16. B. Kayzer, 17. R. Slimani, 18. V. Debaty, 19. R. Taoffenua, 20. D. Chouly, 21. R. Kockott, 22. J. Plisson, 23. M. Bastareaud.
