Six Nations preview: France v Italy
By Graeme Peacock
Last Updated: 23/02/18 11:28pm
France host Italy at the Stade Vélodrome for their first Six Nations Championship home game outside of Paris on Friday night.
Both sides have had a tough start to the 2018 campaign and are yet to register a win in their first two matches.
Here's everything you need to know ahead of the fixture in Marseille…
Form
France: LLDLL
France had a golden opportunity to get their first victory under Jacques Brunel's leadership against Scotland, only to let a half-time lead slip and eventually lose 26-32.
Discipline was a key issue at Murrayfield as France allowed Greig Laidlaw to kick six second-half penalties due to constant indiscretions.
Les Bleus looked to have all but secured a positive start to the Six Nations until a dramatic Johnny Sexton drop-goal in injury time resulted in a 15-13 loss in Round 1.
The autumn internationals proved to be the final straw for Guy Noves in a disappointing coaching stint for the former Toulouse coach.
France lost twice to New Zealand before going down to an out-of-sorts Springbok side. This was followed up by a draw against Japan where they were outscored by three tries to two.
Another recent series of events has led to Brunel dropping players at the start of this Test week, including Teddy Thomas and Louis Picamoles, following an evening out after their loss to Scotland.
Brunel, who previously coached Italy, will be looking for a win over his previous charges.
Italy: WLLLL
Conor O'Shea's side has had a tough start to this year's Six Nations, with defeats against England and Ireland.
The alarm bells will be ringing after shipping over 50 points and conceding eight tries at the Aviva Stadium in their last outing, as defence remains a big concern for the Azzurri.
In their first game of the tournament, Italy were competitive in the first 50 minutes before crumbling to a 46-15 loss to Eddie Jones' men.
The November Tests proved to be a mixed bag results wise with a good 19-10 win over Fiji before losing to Argentina and South Africa on successive weekends.
Last meeting
Rome was the host for this one-sided affair with a comprehensive 40-18 victory to France in last year's Six Nations match.
Neither side left the Stadio Olimpico feeling like they dominated completely, but for France the scrum was in the ascendancy throughout the encounter.
The Azzurri enjoyed a strong start as captain Sergio Parisse took an offload from Carlo Canna to score the opening try early in the first half. However, France gained a stranglehold on the game through a couple of penalties from Lopez and a five-pointer by Fickou.
Further tries by Vakatawa, Picamoles and Dulin were all converted by Camille Lopez. The No 10 was successful with four penalties in total generating a personal haul of 20 points in Rome.
While there were moments of brilliance from O'Shea's side, the classic Italian problem of falling away in the last 30 minutes of games haunted them once again in 2017.
Key Players
France: Maxime Machenaud
The Racing 92 scrum-half is an expert at controlling the pace of the game and his game management skills are superb. The 29 year-old's kicking out of hand, as well as off the tee, makes him a valuable asset for France.
Machenaud will have to marshal his troops effectively, bringing the forwards into play to get over the advantage line, as well as distributing on the right occasions in order to set his backs away.
Italy: Sergio Parisse
His athleticism and mobility are a big part of his game, allowing him to constantly get over the advantage line. He has great ball skills as well as being a good option at the back of the lineout.
Parisse, who has 131 caps for his country, provides a huge amount of experience and leadership for O'Shea's side.
Pre-match thoughts
Upon announcing his team, Brunel commented on the partnership that Geoffrey Doumayrou and Mathieu Bastareaud will deliver within their much-changed backline.
"I'm expecting from them to bring us safety, but also creativity in other moments, and enthusiasm always," France's head coach stated.
"Like I said, there are spots up for grabs. Some have the opportunity to show what they are capable of."
As O'Shea looked ahead to this encounter he also highlighted his captain Parisse alongside a wider perspective on Italian rugby.
"Sergio is always a consistent performer but this is the kind of game where he is likely to be the player to put his head above the parapet," O'Shea said.
"We are expecting an incredible atmosphere in Marseille in a special stadium. It will be very different to the other matches in the Six Nations.
"A year ago, the depth and the internal competition that we can count on today were totally different, and I hope everyone in the environment will see the great progress that we are making with Benetton and Zebre."
Team News
France: 15 Hugo Bonneval, 14 Benjamin Fall, 13 Mathieu Bastareaud, 12 Geoffrey Doumayrou , 11 Rémy Grosso, 10 Lionel Beauxis, 9 Maxime Machenaud, 1 Jefferson Poirot, 2 Guilhem Guirado (c), 3 Rabah Sliman, 4 Paul Gabrillagues, 5 Sébastien Vahaamahina, 6 Wenceslas Lauret, 7 Yacouba Camara, 8 Marco Tauleigne.
Replacements: 16 Adrien Pelissié, 17 Dany Priso, 18 Cedate Gomes Sa, 19 Romain Taofifénua, 20 Kélian Galletier, 21 Baptiste Couilloud, 22 François Trinh-Du, 23 Gaël Fickou
Italy: 15 Matteo Minozzi, 14 Tommaso Benvenuti, 13 Tommaso Boni, 12 Tommaso Castello, 11 Mattia Bellini, 10 Tommaso Allan, 9 Marcello Violi, 1 Andrea Levotti, 2 Leonardo Ghiraldini, 3 Simone Ferrari, 4 Alessandro Zanni, 5 Dean Budd, 6 Sebastian Negri, 7 Maxime Mbanda, 8 Sergio Parisse (c).
Replacements: 16 Luca Bigi, 17 Nicola Quaglio, 18 Tiziano Pasquali, 19 George Biagi, 20 Federico Ruzza, 21 Edoardo Gori, 22 Carlo Canni, 23 Jayden Hayward.