Victory at last: Sergio Parisse
Italy made history on Saturday when they recorded their first ever Six Nations victory over France, winning 22-21 in a nail biter in Rome.
The defending Six Nations and Grand Slam champions outscored their hosts two tries to one but made far to many errors, allowing Mirco Bergamasco to slot six penalties and convert Andrea Masi's try to hand Italy the biggest victory in their rugby history.
So often the weak link in the Azzurri's game, Bergamasco landed six out of his eight kicks from the tee to punish the French for their sloppy indiscretions.
Indeed les Bleus will head back to Paris ruing a string of mistakes. Many were made under pressure but some will leave coach French fans pulling their hair out and pointing fingers with wing Yoann Huget amongst those in the firing line.
10/1 underdogs at kick-off, Italy produced yet another courageous effort and must be given full marks for effort and commitment. By contrast, their visitors seemed flat, uninspired and were unable to match the home side for physical intensity.
Contrary to what has become the norm, Italy's success was not built on scrum domination. In fact, it was the French set piece that had the upper hand, and one could argue that they had a case for a potentially match-winning penalty in the dying minutes. But rather than crying over split milk, Marc Lièvremont's team should look to their chronic sterility on attack and their knack for fluffing opportunities, exemplified by Aurelien Rougerie dropping the ball in the act of scoring for the second straight match.
An early try from Vincent Clerc gave France an 8-6 lead at the break. It was a classic winger's try as Clerc latched onto Rougerie's long pass out wide before chipping over the last defender and using his pace to get to the ball first.
The game looked dead and buried when François Trinh-Duc and Morgan Parra linked up to slice through the Italian defence to put the scrum-half in under the sticks.
18-6 down going into the final quarter, a lesser team would have buckled. But Italy never let there heads drop and were back in the game when Fabio Semenzato found Andrea Masi on the blindside and the full-back darted over from short range to revive his team's hopes.
Bergamasco landed two more penalties to Parra's one to set up a grandstand finish. With just four minutes left on the clock the Italian wing landed his sixth successful kick to give the hosts the lead for the first time.
France plied the pressure in the dying minutes, but with Stadio Flaminio in full voice, the visitors were denied the penalty they sought.
And thus history was made.
Man of the match: Tough one to call. Sergio Parisse was at his brilliant best but how can we deny the try-scorer on such an historic occasion? Andrea Masi was solid as a rock at the back and was rewarded with a try he'll never forget.
Moment of the match: Italy trailed for 76 minutes, but the roar from the crowd when Mirco Bergamasco's final penalty split the uprights left no doubt as to who was ahead on the scoreboard when it mattered.
Villain of the match: No rough stuff to report.
The scorers:
For Italy:
Try: Masi
Con: Bergamasco
Pens: Bergamasco 5
For France:
Tries: Clerc, Parra
Con: Parra
Pens: Parra 3
The teams:
Italy:15 Andrea Masi, 14 Tommaso Benvenuti, 13 Gonzalo Canale, 12 Gonzalo Garcia, 11 Mirco Bergamasco, 10 Luciano Orquera, 9 Fabio Semenzato, 8 Sergio Parisse, 7 Robert Barbieri, 6 Alessandro Zanni, 5 Carlo Antonio Del Fava, 4 Santiago Dellape, 3 Martin Castrogiovanni, 2 Carlo Festuccia, 1 Andrea Lo Cicero.
Replacements: 16 Leonardo Ghiraldini, 17 Salvatore Perugini, 18 Quintin Geldenhuys, 19 Paul Derbyshire, 20 Pablo Canavosio, 21 Kristopher Burton, 22 Luke McLean.
France: 15 Maxime Médard, 14 Yoann Huget, 13 Aurelien Rougerie, 12 Yannick Jauzion, 11 Vincent Clerc, 10 Francois Trinh-Duc, 9 Morgan Parra, 8 Sébastien Chabal, 7 Julien Bonnaire, 6 Thierry Dusautoir (c), 5 Lionel Nallet, 4 Julien Pierre, 3 Nicolas Mas, 2 William Servat, 1 Sylvain Marconnet
Replacements:16 Guilhem Guirado, 17 Luc Ducalcon, 18 Jerome Thion, 19 Imanol Harinordoquy, 20 Julien Tomas, 21 Damien Traille, 22 Clement Poitrenaud.
Venue: Stadio Flaminio, Rome
Referee: Bryce Lawrence (New Zealand)
Assistant referees: Peter Fitzgibbon (Ireland), Stuart Terheege (England)
Television match official: Jim Yuille (Scotland)
Comments
rico says...
Congratulations Italy! Great result for the game of rugby - no matter if the French were terrible or not. Enjoy it!
Posted 13:16 14th March 2011
franksinatra says...
The French National Team's poor attitude and on-field performance reflect a coach that: 1) doesn't have the skill to coach at the national level and 2) doesn't even believe in his players. It was an excellent performance from Italy. They believed in themselves and executed a confident gameplan, which was conversely what Lievermont failed to get France to do. Lievermont and the FFR are an embarrassment to France almost equal to Domenech and the 2010 French Football Team.
Posted 17:45 13th March 2011
mlbp says...
Again France pressed the self-destruct button. Glory to the Italian team. They beat a horrendous French team but they had the faith they needed after the big drubbing against England and the disappointment of seeing matches they should have won (Ireland and Wales) slip away. Few teams would have kept their heads high. Credit to Mallett and the players. They deserve more wins in the future. Let's hope there is a generation of players to keep this trend and in the future they can become the new Argentina of world rugby and be true contenders for the tournament.
Parisse would be the starting number 8 in virtually any national team. He's the true all-around specialist in his position. He dominates all the areas of the game. Spies may be the best ball carrier when there are spaces, but he lacks defensive qualities and his workrate is nowhere near Parisse's. Harinordoquy has lapses of concentration and dips in form. Easter is a phenomenal ball carrier but he cannot match Parisse's hands and aerial qualities. Read may be the only one near him, but he may lack the leadership that Sergio has. It must have been frustrating for him to come out as man of the match in so many games where his team was defeated.
Glory to Masi, the Gonzalos and Mirco Bergamasco, too. Semenzato is a true find, the same as Gori. Sgarbi is another player to watch. Zanni has become a gem. Castro has played better than ever.
The Italians have always shown true character in sport, they are ferocious competitors at all levels, and rugby is a sport where they cannot resort to foul play as they seem to do in basketball or football (diving, excessive moaning, faking, undercover violence). They have truly graced the nature of this sport in the past years. They have concentrated on learning and improving.
Forza azzurri! If you think that Spain used to beat them years ago,,,
Posted 10:20 13th March 2011
CYMRU says...
ITALY....MAGNIFICANT............ well done to Italy and long may their wonderful supporters celebrate this win. Again, show such character at home which now can be carried forward in the coming years for away games. Never should it be said that they devalue the 6 Nations even having beaten us twice in the past and well deserved their draw against us in Cardiff in 2006. This game the highlight of the Championship for me for guts and the celebrations at the end.
France..... please no backlash against my lads next week. Sort out selection,stop mucking around and back to your basics and will again be threat in World Cup
England.... deserve to win Championship but will face a hell of a game in Ireland. Keep playing the quick ball with width/support.... good stuff. But no world cup win this time but will in 2015 if continue this style.
Ireland........ last chance before rebuilding. Should have won in Cardiff as not a try and 'butchered' as they say the last minute overlap. Will still cause England serious probs in Dublin.
Scotland......... wake up as should have produced goods this season. Have the forwards and some useful backs. 2012 will be your turn... keep the faith.
Wales.....set piece near enough in place ....... need improve ball carrying and support runners and provide quicker ball if to improve by 2015. Too late for 2011 but at least will show guts.
Footie maybe the beautiful game... Rugby is GODS GAME !!!.
Posted 03:45 13th March 2011
Lucasrg says...
Masi trow in the game of his Iif.I sayid something bad about his arial game/ much sorrows. besides this, love is overwhelimng everything. great stuff.
Posted 03:21 13th March 2011
Lucasrg says...
I must saY... I almost cry for joy.
Masi did his best best game in his life time,Italy was at hid best, France came, try and lost. fore once let us joy the pleasue! jusy like Scipio, in moments of terrible strife, we shall prevail.
Posted 02:50 13th March 2011
j615 says...
What a game! The Italian backs have improved considerably Canale and Masi were excellent today. Nick Mallet has come under criticism in the past some of it justified but this six nations the progress he has made with the the team is there to be seen.
Mirco Bergamasco showed great character and ability to slot those last 3 kicks especially as he is not a regular kicker. He needs to kick more often for his club. All Italian fans should enjoy and remember today for a long time!
Posted 21:54 12th March 2011
Kawasakifreak says...
Great result for Italy.
Scrappy game generally but superb comitment from Italy who wanted it far more than France.
Italy have improved under Mallett in lots of small but important ways - shame to see him leaving after the RWC - I think the Italian players want him to stay.
Posted 21:44 12th March 2011
alanatleeds says...
Well done Italy, a bit of luck here and there but that probably balanced out the bad luck earlier in the campaign. It is really good news that this great game of rugby is becoming more international and expanding beyond the British Empire.
Posted 21:37 12th March 2011
crunchfit says...
"@ Crunchfit
Are you watching, are you watching, Ireland?
RWC' s showdown is appraoching..."
Terrible game.
Congrats on the win. Earned myself a bucket load of cash cause of that game.
Posted 20:51 12th March 2011
timmo says...
brilliantly well done italy, should have beaten poor ireland as well. Bad news for wales who are really going to soak it up from the french in the next round....
Posted 20:35 12th March 2011
senatore_virg says...
Well, I'd better start being superstitious. I was in Grenoble in 1997 in a sad hotel room with cold flu and fever. Same as I was in Edinburgh in 2007, with tickets in my hands and watching the match at the TV.
Also today, I had tickets and I was in bed with fever.
Next year I'm going to buy the tickets for all matches and I will watch them from the bed. And it will be a Grand Slam!!
Posted 19:25 12th March 2011
carpelone says...
Well done, Italy!
This victory is the right reward for the work of Nick Mallet, who raised the level of the team step by step. Congratulations, having a Castle and biltong to celebrate, Nick.
@ Crunchfit
Are you watching, are you watching, Ireland?
RWC' s showdown is appraoching...
Posted 19:12 12th March 2011
froggy73 says...
Poor France... and now, where do we go from there? A few players just don't have the international level (Trinh-Duc, Chabal, maybe Huget, Parra, Pierre) or are clearly out of form (Jauzion). I don't blame them but rather Lievremont who selects the wrong players who don't see the obvious: this team has no game plan !!!
3 games before the world cup is too late. I am now waiting for November and a new coach !
Posted 18:38 12th March 2011
Center12 says...
Bring back Cedric Heymans!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Posted 18:16 12th March 2011
mlbp says...
Just finished watching the first half of the Wales-Ireland match. With their level of intensity shown so far into the game, Wales should beat France comfortably next weekend. Wales may have a lot of problems as regards creativity, but their commitment to the game and their intensity in attack and defense is greater than what France has shown so far in the tournament. I hope it's not the bottle of Newcastle Brown Ale I have just finished that makes me think that France are going to lose agains Wales in Paris, but the real thought that France are in serious trouble.
I agree with Kije. The France team is at odds with itself, I don't know why. Lièvremont and N'Tamack seem to be to blame. Retiere has done a great job with the forwards. I wonder if Dusatoir is the right man for the role of captain. He leads by example, as he tackles really hard and is everywhere on the field of play, but the players don't seem to follow his lead. Off the field there needs to be a brain to create a true game plan, too. When Lièvremont took the reins of the team he promised free flowing rugby and creativity. Three years of tinkering and trying and testing and still no game plan. Last year they won based on graft and some superb handling against Ireland, and poor competition by other teams, and they were lucky to escape with a win against England under a deluge that favoured them.
Posted 18:01 12th March 2011
crunchfit says...
brilliant. Congratulations Italy! You just won me ¿550.
Fantastic game for Masi in particular.
Posted 17:10 12th March 2011
kije says...
I am so happy for Italy, they deserved to win. It is a great day for Italian rugby. As for France ML must take full responsibility for the defeat, the side is completely at odds with itself, There are four french club sides who could have done better, but it doesn't take anything away from the Azzurri. When ML said one day Italy will beat them in the Six Nations he must have had a fear in his guts for today, he is lost and as muchg as it is sad to demand a sacking, but if France want to salvage anything in World Cup year he must go.
Posted 16:56 12th March 2011
lele says...
YYYYYYYYYYYYEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
after Grenoble '97 we were waiting it!!!
Great guys, with humility and a lot of heart!
Well deserved, great Masi and Zanni over all...
And the best of all is Nick Mallett, thankyou!!!
Posted 16:49 12th March 2011
mlbp says...
Horrendous first half by France, though there were a couple of plays the referee got wrong (Chabal's knock on was caused by an early tackle by Zanni and Rougerie was kicked in the arm when he was going for the try). The backs lacked ideas, they didn't know what to do with the ball, the players got isolated very quickly and the Italians pounced on them and got turnover ball or made the French go backwards. Clerc's try came as a result of an Italian error. That says it all. If France had had 90% possession they wouldn't have scored a try as their only chances came from Italian errors.
What's happening to French rugby? Where is their supposed creativity? What of their fluent game?
The intensity of the subs was really poor too. Thion should not play again in the blue shirt, he's really past it.
I don't know if the French players are letting Lièvremont down because they are really unhappy with him. Maybe they are forcing him to step down or they want the FFR to take measures and bring on a new coach. What do you think?
Posted 16:48 12th March 2011