France escape with draw against Italy

The days when France went toe-totoe with rugby giants New Zealand and SA seemed long gone on Sunday as Les Bleus only avoided defeat as they escaped with a draw against visiting Italy in a mediocre Six Nations campaign.

France have been struggling to find their stride without mercurial scrumhalf Antoine Dupont, who has switched to Rugby Sevens temporarily with the Paris Olympics in mind, and picked up their second red card in the championship after Jonathan Danty was sent off for a head-on-head contact.

Fabien Galthie’s side have only one win in three matches. Despite their early domination against Italy in Lille, they have shown little inspiration less than six months after beating the All Blacks in the World Cup opener.

Their quarter-final exit against South Africa left them wounded and it seems the scars have not healed.

“It’s a tough moment. We were very happy to win in Scotland but tonight is a draw that could have been a defeat,” Galthie told a press conference after the 13-13 stalemate.

“We’re not stunned, we’re not angry though. The players did a good first half even though we only scored 10 points. Then it was details that went against us.

“After that when we were down to 14 men it was complicated against a team who knew there was more space and played well. We have to be fully aware of the situation we are in.”

France next travel to Wales before hosting England.

“We cannot wait to be together again and we are determined to finish the championship well,” Galthie said.

Captain Charles Ollivon noted that “in high-level sport, everything goes fast.

“Nothing’s broken but we know we need to be better when we dominate. We have to be better for everyone supporting us,” he said.

“It’s a moment when we have to show resilience, take the pain in,” Galthie said.