Six Nations Review - Italy 23 - 18 France

We all love a classic French phrase.  Think "A la carte", "Tour de force" or "Piece de resistance".  As Nigel Owens blew his whistle to signify the end of a remarkable match in Rome, we probably all imagined the French were spitting such greats as "Sacre Bleu!" or "Zut Alors!", whilst the reality was they were probably all thinking the same thing – Déjà vu.  And it is this which makes Italy's victory over France on Sunday all the more significant.

The French should have been prepared for this.  Two years ago, in a dead rubber game at the end of the 6 Nations, the French lost to a side they had only lost to once in a previous 31 games, and for the first time in a Championship.  They were taken aback by the levels of Italian passion and aggression, which lasted for the full 80 minutes whilst Les Bleus were not quite at the required level mentally.  They paid the price.  Italy stole a win, which had a no effect on the Championship, but a huge effect on their confidence.  It also should have taught the French a lesson that if you show up in Rome with the intensity of wet sponge, you will take a pasting.  It would seem that though that the French are as good at learning as they at producing main courses larger than the size of a baby hamster.

 

The game got off to an explosive start.  The Italians were pressurising the French 22 early on, but the men in blue seemed comfortable.  Then a turnover fed the ball to the reliably unreliable Frederic Michalak, preferred at flyhalf to Trinh-Duc, who hoofed it upfield for his winger Benjamin Fall to chase.  Back went Luke Mclean, all on his own, who rolled to his left to leave Fall for dead and take the ball into French territory.  The Azzurri made yards up the right hand touchline, before feeding fly half Liciano Orquera.  The man whose place in the side had been questioned by many, including myself, spotted a gap between French captain Pascal Pape and prop Nicholas Mas as big as the Colosseum and scampered through.  Drawing in Wesley Fofana, the diminutive Italian looked to his left and saw (who else?) his captain Sergio Parisse lurking, and the Stade Francais man strode over for an outstanding opening try.  Orquera added the extras to make it a perfect 5 minutes for Italy.

 

Even the usually boisterous Italian crowd seemed to be in shock.  This wasn't a dead rubber game they were winning, but a game that could set the tone for the whole Championship.  Could this be the real deal?  For a while, it looked like it wouldn't.  The French stirred themselves from their slumber and sent their runners such as the giant number 8 Louis Picamoles, Thierry Dusautoir and Maxime Mermoz crashing against the Italian defence.  The battle between Picamoles and his opposite number Parisse was living up to his billing.  Firstly the Italian legend got underneath the big Frenchman and sent him clattering backwards in a fine tackle, but the man from Toulouse got his revenge, taking a pass from Michalak to power past Parisse on the outside and touch down from 8 metres out.  Michalak then gave the first strong indication that he may be having 'one of those days' by scuffing his relatively easy conversion wide of the posts.

 

The game was following on from the entertaining spectacles served up in Cardiff and London the previous day, as the Italians started to get a hold on possession.  Hooker Ghiraldini was everywhere, and prop Castrogiovanni was making dents around the fringes, whilst out wide the Wasps utility back Andrea Masi was joining the line effectively from fullback.  The French defence was being staggeringly inconsistent, with superb pressure being applied by Fulgence Ouedraogo, before dropping apart around the fringes and the wings, allowing the Azzurri to gain valuable territory.  Orquera took full advantage of this by nudging over a well-struck penalty before hitting a perfectly struck drop goal – for the first time in over a decade, it looked as if the Italians had a general at flyhalf.

 

The seesaw nature of the game continued as the French first slotted a penalty, via Michalak, and then scored a try of breathtaking beauty.  Fullback Huget made the initial burst, dummying and accelerating through a gap on the right before offloading out of the tackle, via Fritz, to Fall, who showed real pace to gallop in under the posts and all of a sudden Les Bleus were two points out in front at the half time whistle.

The French must have known they were in a battle.  You can bet your bottom Euro that Saint-Andre would have been booming out the importance of winning the collisions at the start of the second half, and at first it seemed Les Blues must have heeded his advice.  More powerful charges by Picamoles, with centre Florian Fritz and out-of-position winger Wesley Fofana also getting involved, helped the French take control of the opening period, with Michalak dropping a penalty over from 30 metres out before falling just short with one from halfway, courtesy of a brainless piece of blocking by the otherwise excellent Ghiraldini.  Everyone thought the match was back on script – the French breaking down the Itallians after 50 minutes of respectable resistance.  But the Azzurri had other ideas.

With Parisse making carry after carry, and centre Tomasso Benevenuti making inroads in the midfield, Italy began to apply pressure.  A streak up the right flank by wing Giovanbattista Venditti was followed up by a dart and sublime offload from Orquera, who somehow wriggled his hands through 2 tacklers, to give Castrogiovanni the chance to flop over the French line.  A conversion, a stunned French team, and an explosion of noise from the crowd as the Italians took a 2 point lead into the final quarter.

The substitution of the magnificent Orquera, bringing on Australian-born flyhalf Kris Burton in his place, raised some eyebrows, but by now everything was going right for the Azzurri.  Les Bleus were becoming Les Rouge-faced as they coughed up possession time and again under pressure from the Italians, with Parisse leading the charge.  Venditti carried strongly out of defence again and Burton, with astonishing calmness, stroked over another drop goal to take the lead out to 5 points.  The French, on the other hand, had a catalogue of problems as long as the female-only invite list to one of Berlusconi's parties.  There was no snap, no urgency – even panic would have been an improvement.  In defence they were sluggish; in attack they were downright lazy.  Even the introduction of the little general Morgan Parra did little to improve matters.

 

The French had a scrum in a promising position towards the end, but in truth by this point any feeling that the French could pull something out of the bag had gone.  Fall was dragged into touch; Rome erupted.  As the Italians partied off into the darkening sky, the French summed up their day with a shrug and a mutter: "C'est la vie".

Championship blown open.  Welcome, Italy.

 

Italy Player Ratings

Lo Cicero – 5 – A quiet game from the loosehead veteran who didn't get it all his own way at scrum time

Ghiraldini – 7 – A busy performance, everywhere in the loose and aggressive on the carry.  Will be relieved though his stupidity didn't cost his side 3 points.
Castrogiovanni – 8 – The Italian icon made plenty of carries, even popping up for a try, and worked hard in defence.
Geldenhuys – 6 – an abrasive performance by the lock.  In the French faces at rucktime and succeeded in making a nuisance of himself.
Minto – 6 – Part of a pack this was more fired up than it's counterpart.  Demonstrated his athleticism well by getting about the park.
Zanni – 6 – A quieter game for the blindside, but was aggressive in defence and didn't give an inch. Favaro – 7 – Exceptionally mobile, the flanker caused no end of problems by slowing the French ball down.  Would be good to see him carry more.
Parisse – 9 – Utterly sublime.  Powerful on the ball, brutal in defence, passed and even kicked intelligently, and a try to boot.  This man is Italian Rugby.  Man of the Match.
Botes – 6 – A surprise selection instead of the livewire Gori, but justified his inclusion with a calm and precise display of good service.
Orquera – 9 – Sensational from the man under pressure.  His work in setting up both tries and nailing a drop goal smacked of Diego Dominguez.  A wonderfully composed performance.
McLean – 6 – Played his part well in recovering a tricky kick and setting the stage for the first try.  Quieter after that.
Sgarbi – 5 – Rock solid in defence but quieter in attack, loses a mark for an abysmal offload that put the Italians under pressure in the first half.
Benevenuti – 6 – A decent showing by the youngster, looking to get involved and taking the game to the French.
Venditti – 8 – A good break down the right helped set up the second try and showed great pace on a break out from his 22 late on.  A constant threat on the ball.
Masi – 6 – Joined the line well and was a reliable presence at the back.

Subs used

Giazzon – 4 – Came under pressure in the scrum and was carded towards the end which made the last few minutes more uncomfortable than they needed to be.
De Marchi – 6 – A couple of good carries around the fringes and contributed to the defensive lock out at the end.
Cittadini – 5 – Was under pressure in the set piece but made his tackles and hit his rucks.
Canale – Not enough time to make an impact.
Derbyshire – 6 – Got about the park effectively and caused problems for the French at the breakdown
Gori – 6 – A couple of injections of pace kept the French guessing and generally looked lively.
Burton – 7 – May have struggled to keep up Orquera's great work but instead put in an assured cameo and was calmness personified when he took his drop goal.
Pavanello – Not enough time to make an impact.

 

France Player Ratings

Forestier – 5 – part of a solid scrum but also part of a pack that were bossed on occasions in the loose.

Szarzewski – 4 – Ineffective on the carry and also responsible for a wobbly lineout
Mas – 5 – Helped edge the Italian scrum but did not show anything elsewhere apart from shooting out of the line to wave Orquera through for the first try
Pape – 6 – Tried gamefully to lead by example with some good carries but just wasn't backed up by his teammates.
Maestri – 5 – A couple of fluffed efforts at the lineout takes summed up a day where he struggled to leave an impression on the game
Ouedraogo – 7 – Athletic and powerful, galloped well around the park to try and improve the French momentum with his aggressive work at the breakdown.
Dusautoir – 5 – One of his least effective performances for Les Blues.  Carried well early on but failed to fire up the team later – as a leader in the team, this was his responsibility.
Picamoles – 8 – Emerged with credit following his epic battle with Parisse.  The Italian may have edged it but the Toulouse 8's power game was mightily impressive again.
Machenaud – 6 – Contributed a couple of good darts but couldn't draw in the Italian defence as he may have hoped.  As least looked energetic.
Michalak – 4 – Disappointing.  Looked far too nonchalant out there when he needed to inject urgency.  Lack of imagination – first time we've heard that for the Toulon half-back.
Fall – 7 – Took his try well with a good display of speed.  Could do with getting more involved but was positive when on the ball.
Mermoz – 6 – Try as he might he just couldn't pick an angle through the usually solid Italian defence.
Fritz – 6 – Excellent offload for Fall's try but was far too flat in attack and struggled to get over the gainline.
Fofana – 7 – Why was he being played on the wing?  Had little joy on Sunday but was hungry for the ball and wanted to make a difference, working hard.
Huget – 7 – Superb break and offload for the French's second try but couldn't find the gaps after that. 

Subs used

Debaty – 6 – Enjoyed a bit of success of scrumtime and busied himself in the loose, but not much to shout about

Kayser – 7 – Lineout certainly improved with his introduction and showed his power with a couple of strong carries.
Ducalcon – Not enough time to make an impact.
Taofifenua – 5 – The man is an absolute giant but did not have the impact that the French would have wanted in contact.
Chouly – 5 – Could not replicate the power of Picamoles and struggled to generate front foot ball.
Parra – 6 – Unable to influence proceedings.  Tried without avail to speed up play but the rest of his team didn't seem bothered.
Trinh-Duc – Not enough time to make an impact.
Bastareaud – 5 – Route 1 is his way, but won't be as effective as we know he can be if he keeps dropping the ball in contact.