Threat out wide: Wesley Fofana
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The last time France visited Rome, they returned with their tails between their legs after a shock defeat. Complacency will not be an issue on Sunday.
No, Les Bleus do not need reminding of how tough it is to win in the Italian capital these days. England escaped an upset last year thanks to a charge-down try and the Wallabies needed a late penalty miss from the hosts to sneak away with the spoils.
Yes, times have changed. Scotland are not the only team that fear defeat at the hands of the Azzurri. The survivors of the French side that lost in 2011 - and there are plenty - will do well to remind their team-mates that any drop in intensity in Rome will come at a heavy cost.
That essentially is the crux of the matter. If France pitch up and play to their full potential, they really should win comfortably. The fiasco of two years ago had a lot to do with the atmosphere in the French camp that meant when the going got tough, the French hardmen went missing. All the indicators so far suggest that the prevailing attitude in Philippe Saint-André's squad is far more positive compared to the emotional rollercoaster of the Marc Lièvremont era.
That mindset was best illustrated against Samoa last November. After cruising past Australia and Argentina, France were big favourites against the Islanders yet found themselves under huge pressure from an ultra-motivated and physical Samoan side. Instead of buckling, the French stuck to their guns. Fred Michalak's game management skills and the immense grunt of the French pack come to the fore. Saint-André will hope for more of the same from his side this weekend because you can bet your bottom Euro that Italy will match the ferocity of the Samoan onslaught.
But while French fans will be pleased to see their team operating as a more cohesive unit, certain frustrations remain. Most notably, the continued trend of fielding players out of position. Wesley Fofana will start on the wing while François Trinh-Duc, who hasn't played full-back for over two years and did so only briefly, will provide cover from the bench. The Test rugby environment is not the place to try find your feet in an unfamiliar role. Surprisingly, Trinh-Duc only found out on Wednesday that he'd be covering two positions. In fact, there is a complete absence of a specialist on the bench for any of the back three...
Much like their visitors, Italy are aiming to build on their strong form in November. Jacques Brunel's 14-month stint has seen the Azzurri return to the world's top ten which earned them a place in World Cup Group D alongside France and Ireland.
"We showed in the November Tests, especially against New Zealand and Australia, that we can step up and challenge the big teams in the game," said Brunel.
"The key now is to produce that kind of performance over the 80 minutes, and on a regular basis."
Despite Italy's growing ambitions, all the pressure will be on France. Defeat would spell disaster for their campaign while a solid win could be the first step towards a Six Nations title.
Players to watch:
For Italy: Fly-half Luciano Orquera missed the penalty that would have earned Italy a draw against Australia last year. Goal-kicking has long been Italy's Achilles heal and Orquera will know that he must find the mark consistently throughout the next two months if his team are going to be competitive.
For France: More than ten months since his last appearance in bleu, Thierry Dusautoir is back. Having only played five games since his return from injury in mid-December, the Dark Destroyer has yet to reach his best form and there were suggestion earlier in the week that he may not make the final cut. You'd have to be brave selector to leave the former IRB Player of the Year out of your team, and Dusautoir has promised to repay the faith in blood, sweat and guts. Relieved of the burden of the captaincy, the Toulouse flank can now focus of doing what he does best: make tackle after tackle after tackle after tackle....
Head-to-head: The battle between the contrasting styles of number eights Sergio Parisse and Louis Picamoles is set to be gripping. Parisse's pure athleticism has made him Europe's best player in the position for years but many believe that power-house Picamoles is the new top dog. Its a contest of Ferrari v Bulldozer, where we, the spectators, will be the winners.
Previous results:
2012: France won 30-12, Stade de France, Paris
2011: Italy won 22-21, Stadio Flaminio, Rome
2010:France won 46-20, Stade de France, Paris
2009: France won 50-8, Stadio Flaminio, Rome
2008: France won 25-13, Stade de France, Paris
2007: France won 39-3, Stadio Flaminio, Rome
2006: France won 37-12, Stade de France, Paris
2005: France won 56-13, Stadio Flaminio, Rome
2004: France won 25-0, Stade de France, Paris
2003: France won 53-27, Stadio Flaminio, Rome
2002: France won 33-12, Stade de France, Paris
2001: France won 30-19, Stadio Flaminio, Rome
2000: France won 42-31, Stade de France, Paris
Prediction: Much as we think that Italy are no longer pushovers on home soil, the quality of this French side cannot be ignored. Much will depend on how the new-look French backline gels, but we reckon they'll have enough firepower to get the job done. France by eight points.
The teams:
Italy: 15 Andrea Masi, 14 Giovambattista Venditti, 13 Tommaso Benvenuti, 12 Alberto Sgarbi, 11 Luke McLean, 10 Luciano Orquera, 9 Tobias Botes, 8 Sergio Parisse (c), 7 Simone Favaro, 6 Alessandro Zanni, 5 Francesco Minto, 4 Quintin Geldenhuys, 3 Martin Castrogiovanni, 2 Leonardo Ghiraldini, 1 Andrea Lo Cicero.
Replacements: 16 Davide Giazzon, 17 Alberto De Marchi , 18 Lorenzo Cittadini, 19 Antonio Pavanello, 20 Paul Derbyshire, 21 Edoardo Gori, 22 Kristopher Burton, 23 Gonzalo Canale.
France:15 Yoann Huget, 14 Wesley Fofana, 13 Florian Fritz, 12 Maxime Mermoz, 11 Benjamin Fall, 10 Frederic Michalak, 9 Maxime Machenaud, 8 Louis Picamoles, 7 Fulgence Ouedraogo, 6 Thierry Dusautoir, 5 Yoann Maestri, 4 Pascal Papé (c), 3 Nicolas Mas, 2 Dimitri Szarzewski, 1 Yannick Forestier
Replacements: 16 Benjamin Kayser, 17 Vincent Debaty, 18 Luc Ducalcon, 19 Romain Taofifenua, 20 Damien Chouly, 21 Morgan Parra, 22 Francois Trinh-Duc, 23 Mathieu Bastareaud
Date: Sunday, February 3:
Venue: Stadio Olimpico
Kick-off: 16.00 local (15.00 GMT)
Weather: 20 percent chance of rain. Max 12°C
Referee: Nigel Owens (Wales)
By Ross Hastie
Comments
damo says...
@lacroix, expand on your point who is a better 8 in the NH?
U Idiot he has been the best number 8 PR is correct and I expect everyone would say this is correct!!!!!
He was on a poor team winning man of the match in victory and defeat!!!!
Posted 10:27 03rd February 2013
lacroix says...
'parisse best no 8 in europe for years'...oh really?
next you'll say cian healy is the best prop in europe..oh wait, PR regularly does! LOL
Posted 17:37 02nd February 2013
melkdave says...
You would expect France to be victorious,but Italy are no pushovers these days.They should have won against the wallabies,and where so damn unlucky imo.This isnt going to be a easy match by no means,and it will be closer than most expect.But France overall seem to have the edge,so Fance by 3-5
Posted 16:52 02nd February 2013
BradS says...
Easy.... France by 20
Posted 12:00 02nd February 2013
carpelone says...
The referee was Bryce Lawrence
Posted 21:54 01st February 2013
Lucasrg says...
It was indeed a penalty, end of story. Anyway...this game is going to be a total question mark (?).
Will the French implode themselves as we saw in the past? Will Italy secure a much more important win then 2010? Is Italy able to minimize silly give-aways? Is PSA a pure genius? Is Pape up for the job?
So many questions, as usual, at the beginning of every 6N will be answered only Sunday's evening. All the prospects are pretty exiting so in doubt, I say France by 10 points.
But still....FORZA AZZURRI!
Posted 20:52 01st February 2013
Speartackle says...
@rugby_rockstar
Italy was 18-6 down when only 20 minutes were left to play. They came back to win in great fashion. Maybe it was a penalty at the end (just maybe), but if the ref had given that, would have been a sport robbery, because they really deserved that win.
Posted 14:43 01st February 2013
giomamo says...
@rugby_rockstar: Ok, you're right: there was a penalty kick for France on the second scrums clash, instead of resetting it. I agree it was a mistake by the referee. But you can't simply ignore which was the trend of the second half: Italy went back from a 6-18 gap. Deserving aptitude by Azzurri? Negative mood by Blues? Probably both, but anyway even if it was important, a whole match can't be reduced to a single episode.
Posted 14:17 01st February 2013
sirtidychris says...
"Yes, times have changed. Scotland are not the only team that fear defeat at the hands of the Azzurri"
"Its a contest of Ferrari v Bulldozer, where we, the spectators, will be the winners."
You PR guys crack me up...class article !
On another note, i love how mental french selection is its almost as entertaining as when there sports teams undergo total organic melt down in big tournaments....i'd love to see Bastareaud come on at fall back...oh you frenchies..lol
Posted 14:03 01st February 2013
shoobydo says...
"Complacency will not be an issue on Sunday."
First time I've heard that said of a French Rugby team.
Posted 13:36 01st February 2013
froggy73 says...
After Lievremont the Alchimist whose target was to try every single player he could find, here comes PSA the Toolman. We shall see soon Michalak at hooker and Bastareaud at 15 ...
Posted 11:04 01st February 2013
rugby_rockstar says...
The thing about Italy's win over France two years ago is that the ref turned a blind eye to a disintegrating Azzurri scrum straight in front of the italian goal posts and only 10m out on the stroke of full time. It was a french penalty which would have given France the win. Within the rules of the game you have to admit the wrong team won. That's the bottom line.
Would France have deserved to win? Yes. Okay they were poor on the day but they still would have beaten Italy fair and square, so I reckon there is unfinished business for France in Rome. The real culprit was the Referee who dropped an almighty "ahem", but they can't get the ref without getting arrested ;) so they'll legally pummel Italy instead.
Posted 10:49 01st February 2013
Iyhel says...
To be fair, against Samoa the ref did a great job in relieving some pressure from French shoulders too... Machenaud and Michalak have yet to be tested with their forwards on the backfoot. Based on domestic form, it should be ok but Michalak has been known to crumble before. I hope he really has found some maturity.
That said, if the pitch is dry enough, I expect the French to win by a larger margin, maybe 15 to 20 points.
Posted 10:09 01st February 2013