Match report
Right then, I’ll be off. Bye!
Sergio Parisse talks:
It was a tough game for us but I think the performance was not too bad. We played against a French team with a lot of pressure. We kept the pressure on them in the first half, but at the beginning of the second half they scored. I think our defence was much better than the first two games. Just keep going, keep working. It’s difficult when you lose, but we have another two games to possibly get a win.
Bastareaud is being lauded on television, and rightly – his was a typically powerful performance, and his try almost comic as he swatted three blue shirts aside. He was involved in one of the fluffed nearly-tries, but can hardly be blamed for a ball passed at point-blank range into his knee.
It's over! France 34-17 Italy
83 mins: A vital win for France, but a far from faultless one.
81 mins: They give the ball to Bastareaud, but he can’t quite force his way over the line. They have a penalty, and they tap and go … not very far.
81 mins: The clock ticks into the red. France have the ball, and still want that fourth try. And they nearly have one!
80 mins: Marcello Violi is hurt and needs to go off, and Italy have used up all their substitutions, so they will end the game with 14 men.
There is one last try – but it's for Italy! France 34-17 Italy
89 mins: A fine break, at the end of which Matteo Minozzi goes over! Some in the crowd spotted a knock-on and sound grumpy, but in fact a legal pass had deflected forward off a Frenchman.
89 mins: Italy clear their lines. France are sniffing a bonus point, for which they need one last try.
77 mins: Fall, who has caught the eye with his running down the wing, bursts forward. The tryline beckons. He passes inside, and France mess it up again.
Converted! France 34-10 Italy
74 mins: François Trinh-Duc, just arrived on the pitch, makes no mistake with the conversion.
Try! France 32-10 Italy!
73 mins: France attack in numbers again, and this time there’s no stopping them – Bastareaud powers his way through whichever Italians get in his way and blasts over the line!
The French lead increases: France 27-10 Italy
71 mins: Machenaud kicks another penalty, and it will be his last touch, as France make a string of replacements.
70 mins: France push forward again, hint at a try again, and mess it up horribly again. The referee was playing an advantage, so there’s another penalty here, but some of the home side’s decision-making and execution in crucial situations has been comical.
66 mins: This has,in truth, been a rather poor and error-strewn match. But not without moments of excellence – Beaxis produces one of them, with a fine stretching, mid-air steal at the end of a rare decent Italy attack.
Over it goes! France 24-10 Italy
65 mins: No problem at all.
64 mins: Quaglio is penalised for an offside, and have a penalty. It’s a way out, but from the centre of the pitch Machenaud will be confident of making this.
Converted! France 21-10 Italy
61 mins: Precisely what France wanted and needed, as the ticking clock and the narrowness of their advantage increased tension.
Try! France 19-10 Italy!
60 mins: Bastareaud bursts through two tackles, passes outside to Bonneval, who gives the ball to Grosso, takes it back again and goes over the line!
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57 mins: Sebastian Negri goes on a fine run, but Tauleigne stops him, then Bastareaud gets involved, and it ends with Italy conceding a penalty.
55 mins: A fine cross kick from left to right finds Benjamin Fall, but then Mattia Bellini tackles him, and steals the ball for good measure.
52 mins: There’s lots of grumpy noises coming from the stands, though on the television it’s hard to tell if they’re angry, or just doing more Mexican waving.
Italy shave the home side's lead – France 14-10 Italy
50 mins: For the first time this evening, Tomasso Allan kicks a penalty. And his aim is true.
48 mins: Sergio Parisse is taken out off the ball, and Italy have another penalty. This time, they’ll be happy with three points.
48 mins: Italy win a penalty way out on the left, onceded by Vahaamahina, and go for touch. France win the line-out.
Machenaud puts it between the posts! France 14-7 Italy
46 mins: France’s lead is now a fairly healthy seven points.
45 mins: The referee plays an advantage, so France know they can have a penalty if they want one. Despite this, and in the circumstances with no obvious purpose, Beauxis attempts a hurried drop-goal. He misses. Still, a penalty.
43 mins: France have a wonderful try-scoring chance, and they make a mess of this one as well! Beauxis has the ball, with space in front of him to burst into, and he bursts into it, runs 30 yards with two team-mates outside him, and then messes up his pass, and then the ball’s knocked on, and it all unravels horribly.
41 mins: France win the first line-out of the second half, and lose the ball from it.
41 mins: And they’re off! Again!
The players are back out. Guirardo has been passed fit to continue.
… though they should have scored at least two more tries. Anyway, this from Niall Mullen: “What is it with rugby fans? France are losing at home and there’s a Mexican wave,” he opines. “I’ve seen this in other games too. The stadium cam will pick out some fans of the losing side and the fans will mug up for the camera instead of ignoring it with a thousand yard stare. They should be tense & gnawing on their fists not having a party. Do rugby fans actually care about the result or are they just there for the crack?” I am a fellow Mexican-wave curmudgeon. I can accept them in the 70th minute of a dire and irrelevant goalless draw in association football, but in very few other situations.
Half time: France 11-7 Italy
40 mins: There is time for the restart, but not a lot else. France take a deserved lead into the break, and only further second-half fitness-related self-combustion can stop them winning this, surely.
Over it goes! France 11-7 Italy
40 mins: It’s good, and France extend their lead! They have been clearly the better side for all but about 120 seconds of this half.
39 mins: Another penalty. Guilhem Guirado appears to have taken a blow to the head, and needs to go off for a medical check-up.
38 mins: Various Italians take turns to run straight into opponents. Eventually one of the opponents – Bastareaud – rips the ball out of an Italian’s arms and the French spring forward.
35 mins: A first replacement: Dean Budd is off and George Biagi is on.
34 mins: And they mess it up again. A foot from the line the ball is passed into Bastareaud’s knee, bounces off him and is lost.
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33 mins: And France have yet another penalty. Doumayrou takes it quickly and heads for the line, but doesn’t quite make it!
32 mins: A scrum has to be reset a couple of times. When it eventually holds up, Remy Grosso goes on a long run, Italy steal the ball back and then Mattia Bellini, the other No11, goes on a run of his own. Another turnover, and France are pushing again.
Penalty! France 8-7 Italy
29 mins: Machenaud’s kick sails between the posts, and France are back in the lead. They have been far from clinical with their try-scoring chances, but at least they’re no longer losing.
29 mins: And it will be a penalty, which Machenaud will take.
28 mins: Again, the French get within a couple of strides of the tryline. Can they cross it this time? The referee is playing an advantage, so there’s a penalty as a worst case scenario.
26 mins: Italy have the line-out but no clear plan for what to do after it, get a bit stuck, and Andrea Levotti concedes a penalty. France again go in search of a try.
25 mins: The ball ends up in touch, after Minozzi lands a perfectly decent tackle, and some players get very upset about something. There’s an extended period of pushing, shoving, and general aggressive posturing.
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24 mins: The ball is stuck around the halfway line, inside the French half. But then it’s worked wide by the French, with speed, to Remy Grosso, and he sprints 35 yards down the line.
20 mins: A physio comes on to look at Leonardo Ghiraldini, who has an issue with his right shoulder.
19 mins: Tauleigne carries the ball to within a yard from the tryline, but with another try beckoning France fumble, and the ball rolls five yards forwards to a blue shirt, and the moment is lost.
16 mins: France pass the ball to Lionel Beauxis, who powers between two Italians and 10 yards towards the tryline, a lovely run, but he can’t find a pass at the end of it and France contrive to give away a penalty.
15 mins: The backs haven’t really stretched their legs yet. It’s been a game of mauls, scrums and line-outs thus far. And a somewhat controversial decision.
What is going on...? How is that a penalty try....? No clear collapse in my eyes #FRAvITA
— Stephen Ferris (@StephenFerris6) February 23, 2018
Penalty try! France 5-7 Italy!
12 mins: It’s a penalty try! Wayne Barnes eventually decides that the maul did collapse, and though he can’t identify a culprit he can award the penalty try, which is precisely what he does.
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11 mins: Over to the TMO. Was the ball grounded? It looks like it wasn’t, so it’s not a try. But then, was the maul collapsed? It looks like it was, in which case it’s a penalty try.
Try! France 5-5 Italy!
10 mins: What a surge from the Italians! From the line out they just roll forwards, with the French defence disorganised and disjointed. All the way to the tryline, and over it!
10 mins: A few moments later Italy themselves have a kickable penalty, and they too kick for touch, preferring to go for the tryline.
9 mins: Italy have a line-out, and catch France off guard by throwing short to Alessandro Zanni. They swiftly force him into touch, though.
7 mins: Machenaud misses the conversion. Still, a fine start for France who have been absolutely in control.
Try! France 5-0 Italy!
The ball disappears from view as players from both sides collide a yard from the line, but then Paul Gabrillagues pops out the back and calmly places the ball an inch over the line!
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5 mins: From the line out, France grab the ball and surge for the line.
4 mins: The France pack has the ball and pushes Italy back. The referee signals a penalty, but lets play continue as France continue to push. Eventually, though, he blows his whistle. It’s totally kickable, but they want the try and go for touch again.
3 mins: Italy play the ball from right to left, but Bastareaud gets in the way and wins a penalty, which is booted into touch.
1 min: It has begun. Marco Tauleigne catches cleanly, and France, in white, have the ball.
The preamble is over. The action is about to begin.
And they’re out! Indeed, the Italians are already singing their anthem. With great gusto.
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The teams are in the tunnel!
Jonathan Davies is having a chat about the game on the BBC, allowing us to glimpse his view of the pitch – he is a long, long way up.
Bit high up tonight @BBCSport #FRAvITA pic.twitter.com/ioDn7p8hi7
— Jonathan Davies OBE (@JiffyRugby) February 23, 2018
In this picture the French dressing room looks only marginally quieter than the Italian one – and there’s nobody in it.
This is what the inside of the Italy changing room looks and sounds like. Disappointingly quiet, really.
#Italrugby allo stadio Velodrome di Marsiglia
— Italrugby (@Federugby) February 23, 2018
Alle 21 il kick-off di #FRAvITA in diretta su @dmaxitalia 🇫🇷🇮🇹 pic.twitter.com/1n3GXXn2Q9
Hello world!
Here are some wooden spoons, delightfully described as “a bouquet of spoons” in the caption supplied by the agency responsible for the photograph. As the only winless teams after two matches in this season’s Six Nations, it seems likely that one of these teams will be the recipients of the notional wooden spoon, though they are unlikely to think of them as bouquets of any sort.
France come into the game having not only lost twice, but having also dropped a total of eight players for “not respecting their status as international players” during a night on the town after defeat to Scotland a fortnight ago. Completing a rather objectionable picture, Mathieu Bastareaud returns to the team following a three-week ban for homophobic abuse. Italy have won four of their 69 matches against France, and only once on French soil – they have never done that in the Six Nations – but this might be their best chance yet. Here are the teams:
France: Bonneval, Fall, Bastareaud, Doumayrou, Grosso, Beauxis, Machenaud, Poirot, Guirado, Slimani, Gabrillagues, Vahaamahina, Lauret, Camara, Tauleigne.
Replacements: Pelissie, Priso, Gomes Sa, Taofifenua, Gourdon, Galletier, Couilloud, Trinh-Duc.
Italy: Minozzi, Benvenuti, Boni, Castello, Bellini, Allan, Violi, Lovotti, Ghiraldini, Ferrari, Zanni, Budd, Negri, Mbanda, Parisse.
Replacements: Bigi, Quaglio, Pasquali, Biagi, Ruzza, Gori, Canna, Hayward.
Referee: Wayne Barnes (England).
Simon will be here shortly. Both these teams are winless after two matches, and Italy head coach Conor O’Shea senses an opportunity to avoid the wooden spoon:
We have a young group which learns match after match. We knew that the first two games against England and Ireland would be very tough but there were a lot of positives in our performance. A year ago the depth and the internal competition we can count on today were totally different, and I hope everyone in the environment will see the great progress we are making with Benetton and Zebre.
In Dublin in the first half we did not do what we expected but it is important for us on Friday to learn from our mistakes and show our game plan, show off our rugby throughout the game. For us, Friday is a new opportunity. We must focus on ourselves, and I hope we can offer ourselves and our fans a performance to be proud of.
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