Italy stubs its toe 8-33 against immovable France

ROME — A resurgent Italian national team came up short in Lille on Sunday as France confirmed their status as the team to beat in the Six Nations rugby championship and one of the best teams in the world.

It was a credit to Italy’s fighting spirit that three French tries in the first half hour failed to squelch their determination. For much of the match they remained in contention, thwarted only by their own handling errors and France’s talent for pouncing on opportunities.

Italy had built up a head of steam by defeating Scotland 18-15 at the start of the competition and startling Ireland in Dublin a week ago in a hard-fought match that ended 20-13 in Ireland’s favour.

Things went less smoothly in Lille however, with French winger Louis Bielle-Biarrey outpacing the defence to chase down a perfectly judged kick by scrum-half Antoine Dupont in the fourth minute. A second try followed ten minutes later as powerful lock Emmanuel Meafou, the man of the match, crashed over from close range.

Italy squandered several attacking opportunities before France dealt them a further blow with a spectacular counter-attack out of defence, which concluded with fly-half Thomas Ramos touching down in the corner in the 28th.

Handling errors and a scrappy lineout had gifted the advantage to the French, with Dupont boosting his claim to be currently the world’s greatest rugby player by outplaying Italy with his tactical kicking.

Italy’s most exciting player, full-back Ange Capuozzo, kept Italy in the match when he pounced on a loose ball behind a maul on the French try-line in the 31st minute and a penalty converted by Paolo Garbisi left the half-time score at an acceptable 19-8.

While ham-fingered in the lineout, Italy proved solid in the set scrum, often outmuscling the French. The team stuck to their guns for the first 30 minutes of the second half, which passed without score. The Azzurri competed on equal terms with their hosts, only regretting a consistent failure to convert pressure into points.

Italian resistance faltered after the 70th minute, when winger Louis Lynagh was sent to the sin bin for a deliberate kock-on and Capuozzo left the field after sustaining a shoulder injury. Enterprising and dynamic as ever, the Italian full-back was less effective than usual after missing two-months of rugby because of a fractured hand.

A late French surge saw winger Gaёl Dréan collect a cross-field kick from Ramos to score in the right corner and centre Émilien Gailleton crash through a ragged Italian defence to contribute to the final 33-8 result.

The match ended with the Italians pressing on the French try-line, with a scoreline that failed to reflect their many unrewarded efforts.

Gonzalo Quesada, the Argentine coach who has guided Italy’s revival, confirmed the view that the final result was misleading. “Today we saw a good France but it was never ultra-dominating. Their tries all came through lucky bounces and balls that we gifted to them. And we were short of quality ball,” he told Sky Sport. “The final result is not the truth.”

As the Azzurri show signs of becoming competitive again it is paradoxical that RAI television fails to cover the sport at national level and no free-to-air broadcasters offer the Six Nations fixtures to viewers in Italy. All the more surprising in the Giorgia Meloni era. Rugby in post-war Italy was often associated with the political right and could now be a focus for the patriotism that the right-wing prime minister seeks to foster if Italy’s performances continue to improve.