France Vs Italy: Bielle-Biarrey and France power past Italy to keep Six Nations hopes alive

france vs italy produced a hard-fought victory in Lille that pulled Les Bleus clear at the top of the Six Nations table and kept their grand slam ambitions on track. The match, played on Sunday, combined a late team reshuffle with a string of telling moments on both sides.

Six Nations grand slam hopes

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 after the 13-all draw there two years ago, a match in which a late Paolo Garbisi missed penalty denied the visitors victory and prompted long memories among the French coaching staff.

France Vs Italy team reshuffle

France were dealt a major late blow when fly half Matthieu Jalibert was ruled out of the clash with Italy. The French rugby federation (FFR) announced on match eve that Jalibert would miss the encounter in Lille, having been named to start the Six Nations clash at No 10 on Friday. His absence forced a reshuffle from Fabien Galthie: Toulon wing Gael Drean came into the starting side, Theo Attissogbe was relocated to full-back and Thomas Ramos was moved to start at fly half.

Early Lille history revisited

The Azzurri arrived in Lille with unfinished business: two years earlier Les Bleus had miraculously escaped with a draw in the northern city after being outplayed by the visitors. That quasi-defeat prompted a complete rejuvenation of the French team which yielded immediate results, and France were described as an entirely different beast after the Rome drubbing of Italy last year.

Scoring sequence and key plays

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 Emmanuel 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, however, did not go under and responded with several forays into the French 22, only to be stopped by poor handling and a lightning-quick France defence.

The storm of Azzurri attacks was eventually brought to an end when Antoine 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.

Italy did come up with a response when 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 and Ange Capuozzo turned 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.

Turning points after Lynagh sin bin

The second half saw a reversal in dynamics, 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 Lynagh’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

Injury and selection context

Jalibert had starred in France’s round one and two wins over Ireland and Wales, translating excellent form for Bordeaux Begles as he found his footing at international level in the absence of Romain Ntamack. Ramos has featured regularly at fly half for club and country in the past, having started at the position in last year’s win over Italy in Rome. The inclusion of Gael Drean in the starting line-up was earned after several strong seasons in the Top 14: the 25-year-old has scored 12 tries in 15 appearances for Toulon this season.

France are hoping to further their grand slam bid after this victory, while Italy showed in Lille that they remain dangerous opponents with two impressive opening displays in the tournament this year.

Closing: France move clear at the top of the table, key selections shifted after the late withdrawal of Matthieu Jalibert, an eighth consecutive Six Nations try for Louis Bielle-Biarrey and a first cap try for Gaёl Dréan marking notable outcomes from the Lille meeting between the sides.