France are aiming to defend the Six Nations title that they won in such style with last year’s grand slam and start their bid when they travel to Rome to face a resurgent Italy this afternoon.
It promises to be a massive year for Les Bleus, who will host the World Cup in September, and under head coach Fabien Galthie are one of the favourites both then and now. Their fiercest competition for both comes in the shape of the No 1 ranked side in the world: Ireland, whose bonus-point victory over Wales in the opener in Cardiff on Saturday makes next week’s contest in Dublin a tantalising prospect.
However, they can’t overlook Italy - who finally ended their embarrassing 36-match losing streak in the Six Nations last year with an emotional victory over Wales, as the heroics of young superstar Ange Capuozzo set up Edoardo Padovani for a late game-winning try that will go down in the tournament’s history. Kieran Crowley’s side followed that up with a first-ever victory over Australia in the autumn and are a youthful team, clearly on the up.
France also ran into controversy this week as they were visited in training camp by former French Rugby Federation president Bernard Laporte, who was handed a two-year suspended prison sentence for corruption in December. Les Bleus general manager Raphael Ibanez explained the decision: “Our mission is a purely sporting one. Last night we invited Bernard because France organising the World Cup is thanks to him. And that’s where the deep motivation of our players comes from.”
Follow all the action from Italy vs France below:
