France maintained their relentless march towards a first Grand Slam since 2022 with a bonus-point 33-8 victory over Italy under the closed roof of the Stade Pierre-Mauroy in Lille, though Fabien Galthié’s side were made to work considerably harder than the final scoreline suggests by an Azzurri outfit who refused to buckle for the best part of 70 minutes.
Key moments:
4 mins – TRY FRANCE: Louis Lynagh spills a high ball on halfway and the loose ball falls to Antoine Dupont, who launches a perfectly weighted kick behind the Italian defence. Louis Bielle-Biarrey outpaces Ange Capuozzo in the footrace and grounds the ball deep in the in-goal area, scoring in a record eighth consecutive Six Nations match. Thomas Ramos converts (France 7-0 Italy)
15 mins – TRY FRANCE: Thomas Ramos lands a superb 50:22 to give France an attacking lineout inside the Italian 22. After several phases of close-range battering from the French forwards, Antoine Dupont delivers a flat pass to Emmanuel Meafou, who powers through the tackles of Louis Lynagh and Monty Ioane to crash over for his first international try. Thomas Ramos pushes his conversion wide (France 12-0 Italy)
29 mins – TRY FRANCE: Giacomo Nicotera’s lineout throw sails over the heads of his jumpers and Louis Bielle-Biarrey hacks the loose ball ahead. Émilien Gailleton pounces and explodes into a 60-metre sprint upfield. Hauled down just short of the line, the centre finds Thomas Ramos in support, and the stand-in fly-half beats two defenders before grounding the ball in the left corner. Ramos converts his own try (France 19-0 Italy)
32 mins – TRY ITALY: Tommaso Menoncello’s clever grubber kick behind the French defence forces Thomas Ramos into a panicked pass to Théo Attissogbe. The stand-in fullback opts to run from his own try line rather than kick and is swarmed by Italian chasers. The ball spills loose from the resulting ruck into the in-goal area and Ange Capuozzo, returning from a fractured finger, is the quickest to react, diving on it for Italy’s first try. Paolo Garbisi’s conversion from wide on the right drifts past the post (France 19-5 Italy)
38 mins – INJURY FRANCE: Jean-Baptiste Gros is forced off with a calf complaint. Rodrigue Neti replaces the loosehead prop (France 19-5 Italy)
40 mins – PENALTY ITALY: Danilo Fischetti destroys Dorian Aldegheri at scrum time to win a dominant penalty. Paolo Garbisi slots the kick from 37 metres, just to the left of the posts (France 19-8 Italy)
Half-time: France 19-8 Italy
71 mins – YELLOW CARD ITALY: Louis Lynagh rushes up from the side of a ruck and commits a deliberate knock-down to prevent a French break. Referee Andrew Brace consults with the TMO over a potential penalty try, but the presence of a covering defender behind Lynagh means Italy escape with a yellow card and a penalty. France kick for the corner (France 19-8 Italy)
72 mins – TRY FRANCE: From the resulting lineout, France form a driving maul that surges towards the Italian line, sucking in the depleted defence. Thomas Ramos then executes a sumptuous cross-field kick to the right wing, where debutant Gaël Dréan — called into the starting XV barely 12 hours before kick-off — gathers cleanly in acres of space and touches down for his first international try. Thomas Ramos converts from five metres in from the right touchline (France 26-8 Italy)
77 mins – TRY FRANCE: Louis Bielle-Biarrey zips down the short side before weaving infield. After Lenni Nouchi and Mickaël Guillard take carries inside the 22, Théo Attissogbe is contained near the right corner before France swing it left with two long passes. Émilien Gailleton steps past Paolo Odogwu and slices through the gap to score France’s fifth try. Thomas Ramos converts from 15 metres in from the left touchline (France 33-8 Italy)
Full-time: France 33-8 Italy
Leading 19-8 at half-time after a clinical opening half-hour, the reigning champions were held scoreless for more than 40 minutes of play as Italy’s ferocious defence and dominant scrum kept the contest alive deep into the final quarter. It was only after Louis Lynagh’s yellow card for a deliberate knock-down in the 71st minute that the floodgates finally opened, with tries from debutant Gaël Dréan and Émilien Gailleton in the closing stages turning a hard-fought contest into a deceptively comfortable victory.
The afternoon had begun with unwelcome news for French supporters. Matthieu Jalibert, the in-form fly-half who had scored in each of the opening two rounds, was ruled out on the eve of the match with a calf complaint. The late withdrawal forced a backline reshuffle, with Thomas Ramos shifting to fly-half for his 50th cap, Théo Attissogbe moving to fullback and Toulon’s Dréan parachuted into the starting XV on the wing for what would be a memorable first international appearance. The disruption was significant — France were accustomed to operating with two playmakers at 10 and 15, and instead found themselves with three specialist wingers in their back three — but the depth of Galthié’s squad ensured there was no sense of panic.
Whatever adjustments were required, they did not prevent France from striking with devastating speed. The match was barely four minutes old when Louis Lynagh spilled a high ball on halfway, the loose ball falling into Antoine Dupont’s grateful hands. The captain needed no second invitation, launching a perfectly weighted kick behind the Italian defence for the irrepressible Bielle-Biarrey to outpace Ange Capuozzo in the footrace and ground the ball deep in the in-goal area. It was the Bordeaux-Bègles wing’s try in a record eighth consecutive Six Nations match, and his 24th in just 25 international appearances — numbers that defy belief for a 22-year-old who continues to rewrite the record books with every outing. Ramos added the conversion and France appeared poised to run riot.
A sublime 50:22 from Ramos — who had endured a nervy start, throwing an interception and kicking out on the full — created the platform for France’s second try in the 15th minute. After the lineout, Fabien Brau-Boirie powered into contact and offloaded to Gailleton, who was tackled ten metres out. Ramos and Dréan were both denied from close range on the right as Italy’s defensive wall held firm, but the rampant pressure eventually told. Two phases later, Dupont delivered a flat pass to Emmanuel Meafou on a devastating line and the giant Toulouse lock powered through the tackles of Lynagh and Monty Ioane to crash over for his first international try. Ramos pushed his conversion wide, but at 12-0 after a quarter of an hour, France appeared to be cruising.
Italy, however, were far from cowed. Gonzalo Quesada’s men showed the same combative spirit that had seen them defeat Scotland in round one and push Ireland to the wire in Dublin a week earlier. Leonardo Marin burst through midfield on a searing break that carried Italy deep into the French 22, with Capuozzo and Lynagh in support, but the wing was hauled down just short and the attack faltered at the breakdown. Minutes later, Manuel Zuliani pulled off a brilliant intercept on Thomas Ramos that momentarily had the visitors dreaming of a riposte, but the French scramble defence recovered. Most impressively of all, Italy worked through ten phases inside the French 22 after winning a penalty, with Marin surging powerfully to the five-metre line before Zuliani spilled the ball in contact. The visitors were knocking on the door but could not find the key, and Dupont’s remarkable turnover on Tommaso Menoncello just metres from the try line — snatching the ball from the Italian centre’s hands as he was held up in the air — was a defining moment of the first half.
Their inability to convert pressure into points proved costly, as France struck again on the half-hour with a try born of Italian misfortune and French ruthlessness. Giacomo Nicotera’s lineout throw sailed over the heads of his jumpers and Bielle-Biarrey hacked the loose ball ahead off the side of his boot. Gailleton, alive to the opportunity, sprinted onto it and exploded into a 60-metre run upfield, with Lynagh gaining ground in the chase. When the centre was finally hauled down short of the line, he found Ramos in support, and the stand-in fly-half showed admirable determination to spin past two defenders and ground the ball in the corner. Ramos converted his own try to extend the lead to 19-0, and French supporters could have been forgiven for thinking the floodgates were about to open.
To their immense credit, Italy hit back within three minutes with a try that owed as much to French carelessness as Italian opportunism. Menoncello’s clever grubber kick behind the defence put pressure on Ramos, who tapped it back dangerously infield to Attissogbe. The stand-in fullback, opting to run from his own try line rather than kick to safety, was swarmed by three Italian chasers and tackled just two metres from his own line. The ball then spilled free from the ruck into the in-goal area, and Capuozzo — returning from a fractured finger suffered late last year — swooped through to ground it for a try that underlined Italy’s refusal to submit. Paolo Garbisi’s conversion from wide on the right drifted past the post, but the fly-half did reduce the deficit further on the stroke of half-time. Danilo Fischetti, who had been dominant throughout, destroyed Dorian Aldegheri at scrum time to win a penalty, and Garbisi slotted the kick from 37 metres to make it 19-8.
France had also suffered a blow before the interval when loosehead prop Jean-Baptiste Gros was forced off with a calf complaint, with Rodrigue Neti replacing him — a disruption that would contribute to the scrum difficulties that plagued the hosts in the second period.
The second half descended into an attritional arm-wrestle that bore little resemblance to the free-flowing rugby France had produced in their 36-14 victory over Ireland and 54-12 demolition of Wales. Italy’s scrum continued to provide a steady stream of penalties, with Fischetti and Simone Ferrari winning two more set-piece awards that kept them in French territory, while their breakdown pressure disrupted Dupont’s usually silky service. At one point early in the second half, Italy strung together several phases inside the French 22 as Alessandro Fusco and Capuozzo probed for weaknesses, but Menoncello — who twice interrupted dangerous French attacks with outstanding defensive interventions — epitomised the visitors’ refusal to yield.
The French, for their part, were guilty of uncharacteristic handling errors. Attissogbe fumbled a high ball from the restart, Gailleton overran a short pass from Ramos, and Bielle-Biarrey spilled possession in the aerial contest — errors that stifled momentum and kept the scoreboard frozen. France’s frustration was palpable when, around the hour mark, they pounded away at the Italian line through Meafou, Georges-Henri Colombe and Thibaud Flament, only for Brau-Boirie to knock on under pressure from a swarm of red jerseys just a metre short. Italy’s lineout — their one significant weakness on the afternoon, with several overthrows from Nicotera — continued to malfunction and hand France attacking opportunities, yet the visitors’ tackle count climbed relentlessly as they threw their bodies into every collision.
The decisive turning point arrived in the 71st minute. Dupont passed to the left where Lynagh rushed up from the side of a ruck and knocked down the pass deliberately to prevent the break. Referee Andrew Brace consulted with the TMO over a potential penalty try, but the presence of a covering defender behind Lynagh meant Italy escaped with a yellow card. It was, nonetheless, the moment the match tilted irreversibly in France’s favour. With Italy reduced to 14 men — and effectively 13 after Capuozzo departed with a shoulder injury moments later — France finally found the space they had been craving.
Galthié’s men kicked to the corner from the resulting penalty, and their driving maul surged forward towards the five-metre line, sucking in the depleted Italian defence. Ramos then produced a sumptuous cross-field kick to the right wing, and there was Dréan, in acres of space, to gather cleanly and touch down for his first international try. Called into the starting XV barely 12 hours before kick-off after Jalibert’s withdrawal, the 25-year-old — who has scored 12 tries in 14 club matches this season — had impressed throughout with his physicality in defence, including two thunderous tackles in the opening minutes that announced his arrival on the international stage. Ramos converted to make it 26-8, and France’s long-awaited bonus point was secured.
There was still time for one more score. With three minutes remaining, Bielle-Biarrey zipped down the short side before weaving infield. After carries from replacements Lenni Nouchi and Mickaël Guillard inside the 22, Attissogbe was contained near the right corner before France swung it left with two long passes. Gailleton, who had re-entered the field as a replacement for Brau-Boirie having earlier been used as a temporary substitute for the blood-binned Pierre-Louis Barassi, stepped past Paolo Odogwu and sliced through the gap to score France’s fifth try. Ramos’ fourth conversion from five attempts confirmed a 33-8 victory that, while far from France’s most fluent, demonstrated the grit and defensive resilience that champions require.
Italy had one last chance to respond, winning a penalty and then a lineout ten metres from the French line in the dying seconds. But after 15 phases of battering, the French defence hauled Leonardo Marin into touch to end the contest — a fitting final act that encapsulated both Italy’s admirable persistence and France’s unyielding resolve.
Emmanuel Meafou, named player of the match for his colossal work in both attack and defence, captured the mood in the French camp. “It was a good team performance,” the lock said. “We knew Italy were a strong team. They hung in for 80 minutes, they never cracked and they never let go. We believe in our team. We go again next week. We’re working towards the 2027 World Cup and we’ll keep working.”
Thomas Ramos, whose composed display on his 50th cap helped mask Jalibert’s absence, offered a measured assessment. “It’s a five-point win and, in the title race, that’s what matters. It wasn’t our most complete performance, but Italy brought a lot of intensity. We stayed patient despite errors in the first half. In the second half, we didn’t always convert our chances, but we conceded nothing and made the difference through attrition. Congratulations to the forwards especially, who responded to the challenge.”
France’s defence coach Shaun Edwards acknowledged the difficulty of the contest. “It was a real Test match,” the Englishman said. “The defence at the end was top. Really good and aggressive. You have to dig deep at certain times. If you want to be champions of Europe, you have to dig deep.”
Louis Bielle-Biarrey, asked about his record-breaking streak, was characteristically understated. “I saw it in the dressing room afterwards, on social media,” the wing smiled. “I’m always happy to score, happy that it helps the team. But a winger’s match isn’t just about scoring tries. There’s the dirty work too — the urgent defensive situations inside our 22, racing back to secure rucks. Those are things the general public don’t necessarily see, but the coaches talk about them a lot.”
The wing also reflected on the impact of Jalibert’s late withdrawal on France’s attacking shape. “Just the fact of replacing Matthieu with Théo changed things in our system. We’re used to playing with two fly-halves, and we found ourselves with three wingers. We were in more conventional patterns, like you see at club level. But we got through it pretty well, I think. Gaël had a superb match, Théo responded well at fullback too. Sure, we were sometimes in emergency mode with fewer reference points, but overall, given the result, it’s still satisfying.”
For Italy, there was understandable frustration at a scoreline that did not reflect their contribution. Gonzalo Quesada pointed out that his side were just 11 points behind with ten minutes remaining before the yellow card and Capuozzo’s injury changed the complexion entirely. “The result doesn’t really reflect what we did in the match,” the Argentine coach said. “Even though it was a tight game, we defended very well, especially at the breakdown. I spoke with Galthié and even he was surprised by our attitude. We conceded a try from a cross-field kick while down a man — a shame, because the scoreline doesn’t really capture what we produced.”
Michele Lamaro was characteristically forthright. “The scoreboard is always the truth of the game,” the Italy captain said. “France were unbelievably good at taking their opportunities. Any little error was met with a good reaction from their part. We couldn’t build pressure in the second half and that led to the yellow card. Against teams like this, when you create three or four opportunities you have to convert at least 80 per cent of them. That’s what we were missing, despite raising the bar.”
The worry for the Azzurri extends beyond the result. Capuozzo, whose return from injury had lasted just over an hour, departed with what Quesada hopes is an acromioclavicular joint sprain rather than a dislocation. “I hope it’s just an AC joint injury — that would change a lot of things for us, and for Ugo Mola too,” the coach said, referencing Capuozzo’s Toulouse commitments. Further scans are expected in the coming days.
The victory lifts France to a maximum 15 points from three matches and leaves them in a commanding position at the top of the table, four points clear of second-placed Scotland. A bonus-point victory at Murrayfield in a fortnight would clinch the championship with a round to spare and set up the tantalising prospect of a Grand Slam decider against England at the Stade de France on the final weekend. France barely got out of third gear yet still won by 25 points — a measure of their depth and quality that such performances are sufficient to dispatch a team of Italy’s calibre.
Italy, who remain in fifth place, will lick their wounds before hosting an out-of-sorts England side in Rome on 8 March, a match they will fancy given the struggles of Steve Borthwick’s men this campaign. Quesada’s team have demonstrated throughout this championship that they belong at this level; what they must now learn is how to sustain their intensity for a full 80 minutes against the very best, and how to convert the opportunities they create with greater clinical precision.
As the dust settles on another absorbing afternoon of Six Nations rugby, the championship picture is becoming ever clearer. France, even without Jalibert and operating well within themselves, possess the depth, the ruthlessness and the big-game temperament to go all the way. Bielle-Biarrey’s record-breaking consistency, Dupont’s peerless game management and the emerging quality of players like Dréan, Brau-Boirie and Meafou suggest that Galthié’s squad may yet have their finest hours ahead of them. For the rest of Europe, it is a daunting prospect.
Teams
France: 15 Théo Attissogbe; 14 Gaël Dréan, 13 Émilien Gailleton, 12 Fabien Brau-Boirie, 11 Louis Bielle-Biarrey; 10 Thomas Ramos, 9 Antoine Dupont (capt); 1 Jean-Baptiste Gros, 2 Julien Marchand, 3 Dorian Aldegheri, 4 Thibaud Flament, 5 Emmanuel Meafou, 6 François Cros, 7 Oscar Jegou, 8 Anthony Jelonch.
Replacements: 16 Peato Mauvaka (for Marchand, 58), 17 Rodrigue Neti (for Gros, 38), 18 Georges-Henri Colombe (for Aldegheri, 55), 19 Charles Ollivon (for Jegou, 54), 20 Mickaël Guillard (for Jelonch, 75), 21 Lenni Nouchi (for Cros, 54), 22 Baptiste Serin (for Dupont, 77), 23 Pierre-Louis Barassi (for Gailleton, 58; Gailleton back on for Brau-Boirie, 65).
Italy: 15 Ange Capuozzo; 14 Louis Lynagh, 13 Tommaso Menoncello, 12 Leonardo Marin, 11 Monty Ioane; 10 Paolo Garbisi, 9 Alessandro Fusco; 1 Danilo Fischetti, 2 Giacomo Nicotera, 3 Simone Ferrari, 4 Niccolò Cannone, 5 Andrea Zambonin, 6 Michele Lamaro (capt), 7 Manuel Zuliani, 8 Lorenzo Cannone.
Replacements: 16 Pablo Dimcheff (for Nicotera, 53), 17 Mirco Spagnolo (for Fischetti, 53), 18 Giosuè Zilocchi (for Ferrari, 53), 19 Federico Ruzza (for N. Cannone, 53), 20 Riccardo Favretto (for Zambonin, 53), 21 David Odiase (for Capuozzo, 72), 22 Alessandro Garbisi (for Fusco, 59), 23 Paolo Odogwu (for Ioane, 67).
Sin-bin: Lynagh (71)
Scorers
France: Tries: Bielle-Biarrey (4), Meafou (15), Ramos (29), Dréan (72), Gailleton (77). Conversions: Ramos 4/5.
Italy: Try: Capuozzo (32). Penalty: P. Garbisi (40).
Referee: Andrew Brace (IRFU)
Assistant Referees: Luke Pearce (RFU), Eoghan Cross (IRFU)
TMO: Olly Hodges (IRFU)
FPRO: Richard Kelly (NZRU)
Venue: Stade Pierre-Mauroy, Lille
Guinness Player of the Match: Emmanuel Meafou (France)
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