France 30-12 Italy
Date:
Venue: Stade de France, Paris
Referee: Nigel Owens (Wales)
Attendance: 79,563
France v Italy Match Reports
France and Italy both went into this match with a newly appointed head coach. However, it was Philippe Saint-Andre who got his tenure off to a winning start as his French side beat a spirited Italian side 30-12 in Paris. A selection of match reports is listed below:
- BBC: Six Nations: France 30-12 Italy
- Guardian: France grind down Italy to start Six Nations campaign with clear win
- Independent: France beat Italy in Six Nations opener
- Telegraph: France 30 Italy 12: match report
- Daily Mail: Les Bleus fire Six Nations warning with opening win in Paris
- RBS 6 Nations: Clinical France give Saint-André perfect start
- Sydney Morning Herald: France thrash Italy in Six Nations opener
France v Italy Match Stats
France (15) 30
Tries: Rougerie, Malzieu, Clerc, Fofana
Penalties: Yachvili 2
Conversions: Yachvili 2
Italy (6) 12
Penalties: Burton 2, Botes
Drop-goals: Burton
Man of the Match: Julien Malzieu (France)
France Team Line-up
Backs: 15 Maxime Medard, 14 Vincent Clerc, 13 Aurelien Rougerie, 12 Wesley Fofana, 11 Julien Malzieu, 10 Francois Trinh-Duc, 9 Dmitiri Yachvili
Forwards: 1 Vincent Debaty, 2 William Servat, 3 Nicolas Mas, 4 Pascal Pape, 5 Lionel Nallet, 6 Thierry Dusautoir (captain), 7 Julien Bonnaire, 8 Louis Picamoles
Replacements: 16 Dimitri Szarzweski, 17 Jean-Baptiste Poux, 18 Yoan Maestri, 19 Imanol Harinordoquy, 20 Morgan Parra, 21 Lionel Beauxis, 22 Maxime Mermoz
Italy Team Line-up
Backs: 15 Andrea Masi, 14 Giovanbattista Venditti, 13 Tommaso Benvenuti, 12 Alberto Sgarbi, 11 Luke Mclean, 10 Kris Burton, 9 Edoardo Gori
Forwards: 1 Andrew Lo Cicero, 2 Leonardo Ghiraldini, 3 Martin Castrogiovanni, 4 Cornelius Van Zyl, 5 Quintin Geldenhuys, 6 Alessandro Zanni, 7 Robert Barbieri, 8 Sergio Parisse
Replacements: 16 Tommaso D'Apice, 17 Lorenzo Cittadini, 18 Marco Bortolami, 19 Simone Favaro, 20 Fabio Semenzato, 21 Tobias Botes, 22 Gonzalo Canale