Making her first start for her country, French scrum-half Alexandre Chambon put on a lively combative display. But when Laure Sansus replaced her in the 53rd minute, France suddenly jumped from third to sixth gear. And not before time.
This wasn’t the strongest unit Annick Hayraud could have fielded, but even so they put in a patchy performance. Italy too were fallible, a pair of early penalties raising the score to 3-3. Then the first drama: a final (scoring?) pass from Caroline Drouin was picked off by Beatrice Rigoni, and she was away. As was to happen all too often, the Italians were penalised at the breakdown, unable to complete a promising opening.
And so it went on. Another promising Italian raid stopped short; another final (?) pass from Emeline Gros to Marie Aurélie Castel didn’t stick. Neither of France’s two fine centres, Gabrielle Vernier and Maelle Filopon, had a game to remember, Vernier being withdrawn early from the scene.
France’s first decisive move brought a try to Madoussou Fall who had a fine game on her return. Italy should have replied at once, but a 5-metre line-out went begging.
The hosts drew away with their next efficient move, started by Drouin. Clever handling brought the move close to the line, then Gros feigned a pass and darted over by the short route. (17-3) Michela Sillari struck a penalty, but scores build slowly when limited to kicks.
Half-time 17-6
There had been little for the big crowd to enthuse about thus far, and passages of play remained scrappy. Alyssa D’Inca, one of the newer Italian faces, showed her pace through the centre and almost got her support away three times. But too often that support was a metre or two off the pace.
Still, you had to wonder whether the French were even going to gain a 4-try bonus point – an essential for their well-being. Hayraud wondered too, because she sent Sansus on, and the little No 9 stepped up the pace at once. Time and again she took the ball round the blind-side, stepped, ducked and weaved, somehow managing to off-load to support as the defensive shield closed around her.
Italy still find it hard maintaining top gear for the full 80. Now the crowd was roaring as another Sansus break opened the field up. Gros found herself at outside-centre, timing a final pass to Léa Murie, who used a successful feint to reach the line. (25-6)
Right to the end the Azzurre kept challenging, but yet another promising attack ended abruptly as one more 5-metre line-out went astray.
A flood of debutant replacements ensured a lively last ten minutes. Emilie Boulard lit up proceedings with a break and run right through to the line. (32-6) One more snipe and offload by Sansus to Chloé Jacquet brought the final score closer to what all patriotic supporters thought it should be,.But the French engine had sputtered too often for comfort.
Policy Matters
Annick Hayraud and her staff are following the same policy trail as the English*, looking beyond what they know is their strongest line-up to check the rest of the field. So, injuries or no injuries, a phalanx of top names was missing from the line-up in Grenoble: Banet, Boujard, N’Diaye, Ferer, Bernadou…
Result: France 39 Italy 6
Player of the Match: Madoussou Fall
Teams
France: 15 Jacquet, 14 Murie, 13 Filopon, 12 Vernier, 11 Castel; 10 Drouin, 9 Chambon; 1 Deshayes, 2 Sochat, 3 Joyeux, 4 Fall, 5 Forlani, 6 R. Ménager, 7 Hermet (captain) , 8 Gros
Bench: 16 Touye 17 Lindelauf, 18 Khalfaoui, 19 Feleu, 20 Berthoumieu, 21 Sansus, 22 Trémoulière, 23 Boulard
Italy: 15 Furlan (captain), 14 Muzzo, 13 Sillari 12 D’Inca, 11 Magatti, 10 Rigoni, 9 Stefan; 1 Maris, 2 Bettoni, 3 Gai, 4 Veronese, 5 Duca, 6 Sberna, 7 Locatelli, 8 Giordano
Bench: 16 Vecchini, 17 Stecca, 18 Seye 19 Fedrighi, 20 Frangipani, 21 Barattin, 22 Madia, 23 Ostuni Minuzzi
Referee: Sara Cox (RFU)
Afterthoughts
The first round brought an unprecedented amount of publicity and coverage of every 21st century kind. Each match celebrated an attendance record, today’s being limited to France-Italy games. We couldn’t really expect another 17,000+ crowd as in 2018 at the Stade des Alpes.
Both the leading nations had their sticky moments, but France stayed gummier for longer periods than England. My unguarded claim that France will beat England next month looks distinctly silly in the light of Les Bleues’ display in the Alps, but funnier things have happened
* A reminder of English players not on view in Edinburgh: Botterman, Cokayne, Brown, D. Harper, O’Donnell, Aldcroft, Millar-Mills, Kabeya, Hunt, Macdonald, Harrison, Tuima, Thompson, Breach, McKenna
