France blow Azzurri away
Italy 8 France 50
Sunday March 22 2009
France bounced back from their Twickenham drubbing in emphatic style as a seven-try romp at the Stadio Flaminio condemned Italy to the wooden spoon and a fourth Six Nations whitewash.
Les Bleus came to Rome licking their wounds after a nightmare showing in the 34-10 defeat to England last weekend, but they made partial amends here, inflicting a heavy defeat on the Azzurri.
A three-try blitz in six first-half minutes gave the French a 25-3 lead at the break, Sebastien Chabal, Francois Trinh-Duc and Maxime Medard going over for scores.
They did not let up after the interval as Cedric Heymans, Lionel Nallet, Medard again and Julien Malzieu grounded to maintain France's unbeaten record against their trans-Alpine rivals in the Six Nations. Kicker Morgan Parra ended with 15 points.
Italy, for their part, look to have gone backwards. Their defence went AWOL yesterday, with their points coming via Sergio Parisse's try and an Andrea Marcato penalty.
France had started disastrously at Twickenham -- going into the break 29-0 down -- but they turned the tables emphatically in the first half here. They were already six points clear by the 13th minute thanks to two early penalties by scrum-half Parra.
Marcato kicked one of two penalty attempts soon after but the floodgates then opened. France's first try came in the 25th minute and it was typical Chabal. The Sale tyro, collecting a pass from Thierry Dusautoir after Yannick Jauzion had fielded a steepling up-and-under, fended off tackles by Paul Griffen and Mirco Bergamasco before barging over from close range.
Three minutes later, Trinh-Duc sold the Azzurri defence a lovely dummy and he flew around the attempted tackles of Griffen and Giulio Rubini to ground at the end of a 40-yard charge.
Worse was to come for Italy. Griffen fumbled a high ball and Trinh-Duc pounced, passing to Dusautoir who then laid on to Medard for the easiest of finishes. Parra converted the first and third tries, and by then France had taken a vice-like grip on the game.
The Stadio Flaminio had scraps to get excited about, such as a break from deep by Mirco Bergamasco just before half-time, but that predictably came to nought and the French had a spring in their step as they jogged to the dressing room for the break.
They nailed their fourth try of the game within two minutes of the restart. Flanker Mauro Bergamasco attempted a grubber kick on his own 22 but the ball deflected off a France boot into the hands of Heymans, who gleefully romped over. Parra added the extras, quickly followed by his third penalty, and it was 35-3.
Chabal was brought down close to the Italy line at the end of a 50-metre dash while Florian Fritz was bundled into touch by Parisse as he tried to ground on the left wing. The two captains then traded tries within a matter of minutes as the crowd were treated to a points fest. Nallet was adjudged to have grounded in the 55th minute under a mass of bodies, the mercurial Frederic Michalak -- on as a substitute for his first cap in 16 months -- missing the conversion.
Parisse, inevitably, got Italy's sole try when he ran onto Mauro Bergamasco's pass to charge over from 20 yards. Medard, a bright spark in an otherwise miserable Six Nations for France, grabbed his second try of the day in the 70th minute and Malzieu completed the rout by bringing up the half-century at the death.
Scorers -- Italy: S Parisse 1 try, A Marcato 1 pen. France: M Parra 3 pens, 3 cons, M Medard (2), S Chabal, F Trinh-Duc, C Heymans, T Domingo, J Malzieu tries
Italy: A Marcato; G Rubini, G Canale, Mirco Bergamasco, M Pratichetti (R Quartaroli 49); L McLean (L Orquera 76, F Sbaraglini 80), P Griffen (P Canavosio 71); S Parisse (capt), Mauro Bergamasco, A Zanni, M Bortolami (J Sole 74), S Dellape (C Antonio Del Fava 54), C Nieto (M Castrogiovanni 61), L Ghiraldini, S Perugini
France: D Traille; M Medard, F Fritz (M Bastareaud 65), Y Jauzion, C Heymans (J Malzieu 76); F Trinh-Duc, Morgan Parra (F Michalak 54); I Harinordoquy (L Picamoles 58), J Bonnaire, T Dusautoir, S Chabal, L Nallet (capt) (J Thion 76), S Marconnet (T Domingo 48), D Szarzewski (W Servat 54), F Barcella (S Marconnet 79)
Referee: A Rolland
- Steve Douglas in Rome
