France v Italy

France:: B Dulin; Y Huget, M Bastareaud, W Fofana, H Bonneval; J Plisson, J-M Doussain; T Domingo, D Szarzewski, N Mas; P Pape, Y Maestri; Y Nyanga, B Leroux, L Picamoles.

Replacements: B Kayser, Y Forestier, R Slimani, S Vahaamahina, D Chouly, M Machenaud, F Trinh-Duc, G Fickou.

Italy:15 Luke McLean, 14 Tommaso Iannone, 13 Michele Campagnaro, 12 Gonzalo Garcia, 11 Leonardo Sarto, 10 Tommaso Allan, 9 Edoardo Gori, 8 Sergio Parisse, 7 Mauro Bergamasco, 6 Francesco Minto, 5 Joshua Furno, 4 Quintin Geldenhuys, 3 Martin Castrogiovanni, 2 Leonardo Ghiraldini, 1 Alberto De Marchi.

Replacements:16 Davide Giazzon, 17 Michele Rizzo, 18 Lorenzo Cittadini, 19 Marco Bortolami, 20 Alessandro Zanni, 21 Tobias Botes, 22 Luciano Orquera, 23 .



Date: Sunday, February 9
Venue: Stade de France, St Denis (Paris)
Kick-off: 16.00 local (15.00 GMT)
Weather: 9°C. Partly Cloudy
Referee: Jaco Peyper (South Africa)
Assistant referees: Craig Joubert (South Africa), Francisco Pastrana (Argentina)


I would love if Italy won. They have won two of the last three against France but have never won in Paris. Allez les Azzurri

I cant see Italy winning, would be fantastic if they did though. I could have seen a small chance had England thumped France but that last gasp win over England will have given the French some confidence and at home, I expect a comfortable French win.

Bergamasco really offers notjing other than being a penalty machine. Hopefully Zanni is fully fit and is just being rotated

LF4L, several years ago I earmarked Bergamasco as potentially being as good as Parisse, if not better. I cant help but feel that unadvised 40mins at 9 really affected him and he has never been the same player since.

Nachos Jones wrote:LF4L, several years ago I earmarked Bergamasco as potentially being as good as Parisse, if not better. I cant help but feel that unadvised 40mins at 9 really affected him and he has never been the same player since.

To be fair hes probably a better scrum half than Parisee

Both sides will want to build on their last game despite differing results from the first week. France will want to seize this opportunity to settle into the title race and continue the rebound from last season's finish. The Azzurri should feel encouraged by a performance away at the champs which saw them in the game almost to the very end. They'll want to go one better in terms of their away record both as a whole and in this individual fixture against a side they've recently discovered they can beat.

I've predicted a French win by 30-16. Don't think it'll quite be a thumping (but then it could, the 6N's is unpredictable like that) but should still be a fairly comfortable margin. The Italians have never really been within sight of the finish line in Paris.

Peter Seabiscuit Wheeler wrote:

Nachos Jones wrote:LF4L, several years ago I earmarked Bergamasco as potentially being as good as Parisse, if not better. I cant help but feel that unadvised 40mins at 9 really affected him and he has never been the same player since.

To be fair hes probably a better scrum half than Parisee

You never know, Parisse can do just about everything

Big Italian win coming.............................

is Zanni out of form to be in the bench?

PSA gone Lancaster-esque selecting a fullback on the wing (Bonneval, 1st cap as well)

You were in the crowd last weekend were you not whocares? Must have been some atmosphere at the end

Nachos Jones wrote:You were in the crowd last weekend were you not whocares? Must have been some atmosphere at the end

Yeah was great fun and banter. Much better entertainment than the Wales game of last year. Much warmer as well!