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France pulled clear at the top of the Six Nations table and kept their grand slam ambitions on track with a hard-fought victory against Italy on Sunday.
The Azzurri had unfinished business in Lille. It was two years ago in the northern city that Les Bleus, still in the midst of a post-World Cup hangover, miraculously escaped with a draw after being outplayed by the visitors. For the French, that quasi-defeat prompted a complete rejuvenation of the team which yielded immediate results.
France were now an entirely different beast, as they showed their cross-Alpine neighbours in the Rome drubbing last year. Italy, however, were also riding high after two impressive opening displays in the tournament this year.
Les Bleus initially looked to be putting together another first-half frenzy of tries. It was the inevitable Louis Bielle-Biarrey who went over first, latching on to Antoine Dupont’s kick through to score for a record-breaking eighth consecutive Six Nations fixture.
France’s second came after an intricate 50-22 found by Thomas Ramos, who was deputising at fly-half for the injured Matthieu Jalibert. Emmanuel Meafou eventually powered over after a few phases for his first try for his country.
The inclusion of Meafou and Thibaud Flament, both starting for the first time in this year’s tournament, effectively neutralised the Italian power that had caused issues for Ireland last week. Gonzalo Quesada’s men did not go under though and responded with several forays into the French 22. Poor handling and a lightning-quick France defence would invariably stop them in their tracks.
The storm of Azzurri attacks was eventually brought to a end when Dupont snatched the ball away from an airborne Tommaso Menoncello. In the ensuing counter Émilien Gailleton, picking up Bielle-Biarrey’s scuffed kick, tore through the Italian defence before finding Ramos for a finish in the corner.
This time Italy did come up with a response. Ramos, desperately covering back after Menoncello’s kick upfield, could only flick the ball to his full-back stand-in. Théo Attissogbe, who opted to run from his try line, was soon swarmed by the Italian chasers. Ange Capuozzo would finally turn Italy’s territorial domination into points by pouncing on to a ball which was trickling over the line.
Paolo Garbisi’s converted penalty minutes later gave further credence to the idea of an Italy comeback after the break, even if it was immediately followed by another spilled ball from a kick-off. In any case, the Azzurri were showing that they were well worth the respect their hosts were showing them.
The second half saw a reversal in the dynamics of the match, with France instead keeping Italy in their own 22 but squandering one chance after another to clinch the bonus point. Successive spills, from Attissogbe, then Fabien Brau-Boirie, then Bielle-Biarrey, meant the hosts were still not out of sight by the time the match entered its final ten minutes.
It was only once Louis Lynagh was sent to the sin bin for a deliberate knock-on that space emerged for France to open their second-half account. The passage of play that immediately followed the Italy winger’s departure saw the Toulon wing Gaёl Dréan round off an impressive first cap with his first try, set up by a cross-field kick from Ramos.
The Toulouse man was again involved again for the fifth try just before full-time, finding Gailleton with a long pass. The Pau centre burst past one defender and finished while being tackled by another to extend France’s resounding lead.
“I don’t care if I’m not scoring tries,” Dupont said on the eve of the match when asked about his drought on the international stage. “I enjoy myself in another role,” he added, one where scoring “is not really the aim”.
On Sunday evening, the captain will have done (and tried) everything but go over the line himself, and was the standout performer in a decidedly inconsistent French display. A second grand slam of the Fabien Galthié era is now within reach, but it may not be the formality it seemed.
