Chaotic France give Italy chance to worsen Bleus
After conceding 46 points to England and 56 points against Ireland, most Italian sides would dread a trip to France with little-to-no hope of claiming their first Six Nations win of the championship.
But this is France we’re talking about, and in an effort to out-do themselves that even by their standards is jaw-droppingly ridiculous, the national team find themselves at a new low. Not content with losing their opening two Six Nations matches to equal their longest losing streak since 1969, six players managed to get themselves dropped after an unsanctioned night out in Edinburgh two weeks ago.
That they had managed to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory against Scotland was bad enough, which
makes their poorly-timed night out look all the more unacceptable, but those in question decided to break team curfew to stay out until the early hours of Monday morning. A nightmare scenario for new head coach Jacques Brunel to deal with already, but just imagine his thoughts when Police Scotland ground the team’s flight home and hauled off a number of players for questioning after an allegation of sexual assault was made.
Authorities found that no crime had been committed, but in rugby terms, the damage was well and truly done. Brunel took the hard-line approach, dropped all of those involved – including Six Nations top tryscorer Teddy Thomas – and brought in fresh blood in their place.
"We're playing Italy amid particular circumstances, we can't hide that," Brunel said on Wednesday, having made five changes to his side. "Those coming into the side have an opportunity. Circumstances have given them the chance to stake a claim."
Among those drafted in is Toulon centre Mathieu Bastareaud, a player whose discipline has also been under scrutiny this season after he was banned for three weeks for using homophobic language towards an opponent in a European club game last month. The powerhouse outside centre is one of four new faces in the back line, with an all-new back-three formed from Remy Grosso, Benjamin Fall and Hugo Bonneval, while the lone change in the pack sees Paul Gabrillagues replace the dumped Arthur Iturria.
The circumstances that Brunel highlights have completely overshadowed the fact that this match should be a celebration. Had the ball bounced the other way, France could have entered this match with two wins from two, having lost to Ireland and Scotland by a combined eight points, but it is the fact that the French Rugby Federation [FFR] have made the decision to take the much-maligned Friday night match to Marseille – closer to the hotbed of French rugby in southern France – and take the game to the masses.
But instead, they find themselves haunted by scandal and scrutiny, and that opens a huge door for Italy. Conor O’Shea’s side may have lost heavily to England and Ireland, but their performance against the reigning champions was certainly one of promise. If they can put the horror show in Dublin down as a oneoff, France will be there for the taking this weekend, and with each game that passes, O’Shea has full confidence in his side to move in the right direction.
"We knew that the first two games against England and Ireland would be very tough, but there were a lot of positives in our performance,” said the Irishman. "I believe very much in this group and in the path we are going down together. A year ago, the depth and the internal competition we can count on today were totally different, and I hope everyone in the environment will see the great progress we are making with Benetton and Zebre.
"In Dublin in the first-half we did not do what we expected, but it is important for us on Friday to learn from our mistakes and show our game-plan, show off our rugby throughout the game.
"For us, Friday is a new opportunity. We must focus on ourselves, and I hope we can offer ourselves and our fans a performance to be proud of."
There are some of this Italian team who remember what it takes to beat France, too. Leonardo Ghiraldini, Alessandro Zanni, Sergio Parisse and Tommaso Benvenuti were all part of the sides that conquered their neighbours 22-21 in 2011 and 23-18 in 2013, although both of those games took place in Rome. They have not tasted victory in France since joining the Six Nations, but with France having to contend with the magnitude of off-field distractions that has heavily disrupted their campaign so far, it could finally be Italy’s chance to shine.
Teams
France: Hugo Bonneval; Benjamin Fall, Mathieu Bastareaud, Geoffrey Doumayrou, Remy Grosso; Lionel Beauxis Maxime Machenaud; Jefferson Poirot, Guilhem Guirado, Rabah Slimani; Paul Gabrillagues, Sebastien Vahaamahina; Wenceslas Lauret, Yacouba Camara, Marco Tauleigne.
Replacements: Adrien Pelissie, Dany Priso, Cedate Gomes Sa, Romain Taofifenua, Kelian Galletier, Baptiste Couilloud, Francois Trinh-Duc, Gael Fickou.
Italy: Matteo Minozzi; Tommaso Benvenuti, Tommaso Boni, Tommaso Castello, Mattia Bellini; Tommaso Allan, Marcello Violi; Andrea Lovotti, Leonardo Ghiraldini, Simone Ferrari; Alessandro Zanni, Dead Budd; Sebastian Negri, Maxime Mbanda, Sergio Parisse.
Replacements: Lucas Bigi, Nicola Quaglio, Tiziano Pasquali, George Biagi, Federico Ruzza, Edoardo Gori, Carlo Canna, Jayden Hayward.