A largely lackluster France kept Italy’s threat at bay, eventually winning the Six Nations with a 33-8 bonus point victory and remaining unbeaten.
Winger Louis Biel-Bialley, lock Emmanuel Mehfou, fly-half Thomas Ramos, debutant winger Gaël Dorrian and center Emilian Gailleton scored for France. He made sure to score the third shot despite the flow of the match, and finally scored the fourth with eight minutes remaining.
Italy scored with a try from Ange Capozzo and a penalty from Paolo Garbisi, but despite plenty of possession, territory and scrum control, a poor lineout kept them behind at 19-8 and prevented from counterattacking.
When the Azzurri were down to 13 men after losing Louis Riner to a late sin bin and Capozzo to injury, France piled up the scoreboard in the closing stages to swell the scoreboard.
Towering French lock Emmanuel Mefoux was also on the scoreboard and was named player of the match.
Captain Antoine Dupont kicked the ball behind the Italian defense to give France an early lead, and Biel Bialley chased after him to score, breaking their record for eight consecutive Six Nations games.
French full-back Theo Attisogbe and Italian winger Riner raced to receive an Italian high kick on the halfway line, with Riner kicking the ball back where Dupont had collected it.
Louis Biel-Bialley makes history by becoming the first player to score in eight consecutive Six Nations games.
The second try came in the 15th minute as France drove to the Italian line with Ramos, Dorian stopped a few meters short of the tryline and Mairhou used his power to power over and score his first Test try.
In the 29th minute, France’s lead increased due to a bad throw from Giacomo Nicotera in front of France’s own 22-meter line, but Gayleton pounced on the loose ball and tried to break it before passing it inside to Ramos, who dived into the corner.
France’s Ramos’ try was completely against the flow of the game and gave France a 19-0 lead.
Italy narrowed the gap before half-time, but Ramos and then Atissogbe were caught in front of their own tryline, and when the ball spilled, Capozzo was quickest to react and touch down with a cheeky touch.
It took France until eight minutes from the end to score their fourth try, with Ramos kicking out to the right and Dorian scoring into the right corner. Italy was leading by two points during the play.
With Italy down to 13 men, Gaël Dorrian scored the try to give France a bonus point with eight minutes remaining.
The fifth and final try came three minutes before the end of the match, when Atissogbe burst down the right wing and fed Gailleton, who beat Paolo Odogwu’s tackle to score the goal.
Quesada: “Final score reflects an unfair reflection – 13 players left due to medical staff error”
Italy national team coach Gonzalo Quesada told ITV:
“We ended the first half with a score of 19-8 and entered the game with a score of 19-8 until the 70th minute.
“And their 19 points came from a high kick from us that bounced off them for a try, a lineout they beat and they scored from there. Our three lost balls gave them their 19 points.”
“But offensively, in the first half we had the ball and attacked very well, but in the second half we lacked the ball because of the lineout. We couldn’t put enough pressure on the ball.
“In the second half, it was important to improve the quality of the ball, especially from the lineouts, where we created a lot of chances and the team were able to build on something.
“They didn’t play a great game and in the end, their mistakes made it 13-15 and the score was huge.
“The way the medical staff handled it was really bad. We had plenty of time and we don’t know what happened there.
“It’s our fault that we had one player sent off for discipline and one player was injured. We ended up with a score that didn’t reflect the game.”
Italy had the upper hand in the scrum, but the lineout was consistently horribly dysfunctional.
Ramaro: “We had chances, but we couldn’t build up enough pressure”
Italy captain Michele Lamaro told ITV:
“France were incredibly good at taking chances in the first half. They reacted very well to the little mistakes we made and France made.
“We didn’t put enough pressure on them in the second half and got a yellow card in the 70th minute. Then there was an injury to the backs so we had to cover for them and it was difficult to contain them.
“In the second half, we couldn’t keep possession at the lineout, but we had chances.
“We were playing against one of the best teams in the world, so of course we need to be precise, specific and play at a high level. There were moments where we were there, but many other moments we didn’t perform well enough.”
Edwards: It was a really tough game – we had to dig deep.
France defensive coach Shaun Edwards told ITV:
“That was a really tough rugby match, you could call it a real Test match.
“Our defense at the end was really good and aggressive and that’s what we’ve been working on. It’s nice to see what we’ve been working on this week pay off over the weekend.”
“At some point we had to dig deeper, which you have to do if you want to be European champions.
France defense coach Shaun Edwards admitted his team had to dig deep.
“Louis Biel Bialley is unbelievable. The number of tries he scores is just unbelievable.”
Mairfu: We always believed that we could beat a strong Italy and get a bonus point.
ITV’s Player of the Match Emmanuel Mairfoux:
“Romance-wise we had a good team. I didn’t know I had it in me to dig deep and play the full 80 minutes.
“We always believed we could get a bonus point. Italy are a strong team and hung on for 80 minutes. They never cracked or let go, but we believe in the team.”
“I’m happy to get points and compete again.
“The players in the backline are of high quality and it shows.
“Our ultimate goal is the 2027 Rugby World Cup and we are working steadily towards that.”
What’s next?
France next face Scotland in the fourth leg of the Six Nations at Murrayfield on Saturday 21 February (kick-off 2.10pm).
On Saturday 21st February, Italy will host England at Rome’s Stadio Olimpico in their fourth Six Nations fixture (kick-off 4.40pm).
