Italy player ratings: Azzurri a ‘shambles’ as Les Bleus ‘Bomb Squad’ runs riot in Rome

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Italy centre Juan Ignacio Brex, and fellow Azzurri team-mates (inset) dejected during Six Nations hammering by France.

Italy centre Juan Ignacio Brex, and fellow Azzurri team-mates dejected during Six Nations hammering by France.

Following an abject 73-24 defeat to France in the Six Nations clash at the Stadio Olimpico on Sunday, here are the player ratings for Italy.

15 Tommaso Allan: Missed an early penalty before taking up for that with a three-pointer to take Italy in front. However, what happened after that was pretty ugly. 4

14 Ange Capuozzo: The odd nice moment early on but rather faded as France began to dominate. A dazzling player but he was exposed defensively on Sunday. 4

Best of a bad bunch

13 Juan Ignacio Brex: One of Italy’s better performers. Linked with his centre partner well on occasions and read the game better defensively than most of his team-mates. 6

12 Tommaso Menoncello: See Brex. A brilliant finish early on saw Azzurri supporters dreaming of a huge Six Nations victory, but France put pay to that. 6

11 Simone Gesi: Came in for this game and really struggled. Didn’t really get too much opportunity to show his fast feet and was completely outclassed by his opposite wing. 4

10 Paolo Garbisi: Some nice variety early on but, as France grew, Garbisi wilted and was not much of a factor in the second period despite his try. 4

9 Martin Page-Relo: Was actually one of Italy’s better performers, especially in the first half. Kicking was reasonable and delivery decent, but his pack failed to help him. 5

Planet Rugby player ratings key 10 - Career defining performance 9 - Outright blockbuster effort 8 - Significantly influenced the result of the game 7 - Committed and effective outing 6 - Flashes of brilliance outside of executing fundamentals 5 - Fulfilling the role required by position (base level) 4 - Poor execution of fundamentals 3 - Costly errors and/or discipline in the game 2 - Poor performance that directly impacted the result 1 - Grossly ineffective throughout 0 - Should have carried water instead

8 Lorenzo Cannone: Quiet by his standards. The younger Cannone has taken to Test rugby superbly but he failed to make too many dents. 4

7 Michele Lamaro (c): A wholehearted display as we’ve come to expect but there were a lot of missed tackles from the captain. However, his effort was unquestionable. 5

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Physically overwhelmed

6 Sebastian Negri: Usually Italy’s talisman when it comes to setting the tone physically but he, like the rest of the pack, was absolutely monstered. 4

5 Federico Ruzza: As ever, Italy’s lineout linchpin, while there was some good things in the loose, including a stunning pass to Brex for his try. 5

4 Niccolo Cannone: Like Negri, he is often looked at to bring the heat physically, but that never really happened as France dominated the collisions. 4

3 Simone Ferrari: Very few scrums and he suffered as a result. Usually, Ferrari is good in the loose but the pace was simply too high for the prop to cope. 4

2 Gianmarco Lucchesi: One big fend was a highlight moment while he made a number of tackles and only missed one. He ends with more credit than most of his team-mates. 5

1 Danilo Fischetti: Unfortunately for the gifted loosehead, he didn’t make it to the second quarter after picking up a concerning injury. N/A

Replacements: The first half wasn’t great but it became a shambles in the second period when the bench came on. France’s ‘Bomb Squad’ very much had the beating of Italy’s 6-2 split with no one doing anything of note to change the momentum. As a result, the French ran riot to embarrass the Azzurri. 3

READ MORE: Spellbinding France send warning to Ireland with stunning 11-try demolition of Italy

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