Italy v France – Round One
This was a tough contest between the two Latin rivals, to justify all the hype behind the competition.
Rain fell and the wind blew almost throughout the match, putting a great strain on the pass, the catch and the line-out throw. Unlike their last meeting at the World Cup – a win for les Bleues 36-3 – here in Parma there was no chance they were going to walk away with things. Margins would remain tight throughout.
In the end France had the edge where it mattered, especially up front. Italy couldn’t impose themselves at the scrum; France did several times. Out behind the debutatnt at No 10, Carla Arbez, had a fine game, with searching kicks and a try to remember.
In the early stages Beatrice Rigoni seemed to be everywhere. But she made a number of errors that left you wondering why she saw fit to act as dummy scrum-half when Sofia Stefan was standing beside her ready for action.
A dropped ball by Rigoni led to a penalty chance for France that Pauline Bourdon accepted. (0-3) Italy, playing in white, were pinned in defence for the first ten minutes. A scrum penalty gave Bourdon a second chance, but her kick was off line.
The crowd came alive as Francesca Sgorbini latched on to a clever reverse pass from Stefan to cross the line. Rigoni converted. (7-3)
Now we knew we had a real ding-dong on our hands.
When Sgorbini had to undergo an HIA, on came the inexhaustible Sara Barattin to claim her 112th cap and her 74th appearance at the 6N. Stefan moved to 11.
France regained the ascendancy with a fine move. The pack heaved the opposition back; Marine Ménager ran an inside line and Gabrielle Vernier, who had another great game, slid through. (7-8)
Caroline Boujard was guilty of a high tackle as Alyssa D’Inca’ slipped to the ground, but in her absence France stepped up the pace. Ménager was denied a try on review – a foot grazed the side-line a millisecond before she touched down (excellent build-up and pop-pass from Emilie Boulard), then Arbez finished off a move with a wonderful arcing run to the right. Who needs Drouin?
Before the break a somersaulting run by Aura Muzzo deserved a try, but a wet ball was swung into touch.
Half-time 7-15
Le Azzurre went on the attack. A drive nearly got over the line, and Maggie Cogger-Orr had to warn France as the penalties totted up. After the umpteenth forward drive, the ball was sent wide right where D’Inca’ leapt over the line. (12-15)
Gaëlle Hermet was finally allowed on the field in the 50th minute. I doubt we wiil ever discover the reasons for her double demotion, loss of captaincy and loss of a starting position, but you may safely assume she was not amused. I for one can’t begin to understand the machinations.
If France can claim they had most of the ball and most of the territory in the last quarter, it remained a game of fine margins. Handling grew more difficult; players needed patience and self-forgiveness.
On 65 minutes France looked to be over the line, but Giada Franco claimed a splendid turnover.
Would Quins like to re-sign her?
France clinched the game with six minutes left on the clock, Bourdon switched the direction of play, and Jessy Trémoulière fed Boujard on the wide left for the final score Trémoulière’s right boot had helped France to establish positions far from their own line, and now she converted a remarkable kick from the edge in the most miserable conditions (sorry, Italian Tourist Board).
Despite all the understandable errors, this was a game to savour.
Result: Italy 12 France 22
Player of the Match: Gabrielle Vernier
Teams
Italy
1 Silvia Turani 2 Vittoria Vecchini 3 Lucia Gai 4 Valeria Fedrighi 5 Giordana Duca 6 Francesca Sgorbini 7 Giada Franco 8 Elisa Giordano 9 Sofia Stefan 10 Veronica Madia 11 Alyssa D’Inca’ 12 Beatrice Rigoni 13 Michela Sillari 14 Aura Muzzo 15 Vittoria Ostuni Minuzzi
Bench
16 Emanuela Stecca 17 Gaia Maris 18 Sara Seye 19 Sara Tounesi 20 Isabella Locatelli 21 Sara Barattin 22 Emma Stevanin 23 Beatrice Capomaggi
France
1 Annaelle Deshayes 2 Agathe Sochat 3 Assia Khalfaoui 4 Manaé Feleu 5 Audrey Forlani (captain) 6 Axelle Berthoumieu 7 Emeline Gros 8 Charlotte Escudero 9 Pauline Bourdon 10 Carla Arbez 11 Cyrielle Banet 12 Gabrielle Vernier 13 Marine Ménager 14 Caroline Boujard 15 Emilie Boulard
Bench:
16 Célia Domain 17 Coco Lindelauf 18 Rose Bernadou 19 *Maëlle Picut 20 Gaëlle Hermet 21 Alexandra Chambon 22 Jessy Trémoulière 23 *Marie Dupouy
*uncapped
Referee: Maggie Cogger-Orr (NZR)
Afterthoughts
On her duo relationship with David Ortiz Gaëlle Mignot said: ‘We work hand-in-hand. We have split the roles 50-50, David will look after the lineout and the defence.
“I will be in charge of the breakdown, the scrum and oversee the attack. It’s not common to have two people in charge of a team but I think it’s a real opportunity because we have two brains thinking.”
‘Oversee the attack’ speaks volumes. It implies that others are doing the detailed work. Both the co-coaches are specialist forwards.
France haven’t enjoyed travelling south-east recently. They hadn’t won in Italy for the last six years, but bear in mind a pandemic gravely interrupted that period.
Although Gaëlle Hermet’s term of office has been terminated, she has still captained France more often than anyone else, 21 times. The runner-up happens to be her new head coach who deposed her, Gaëlle Mignot (20)! And the two women play(ed) for the same club, Montpellier.
This was Raineri’s first dip in the waters of the 6 Nations. He had already supervised a win over Spain, but this was a far bigger test. His aim has been to establish a corporate identity within a squad that impressed him from the start.
He took the unusual course of introducing pairs of new young players briefly across the first two rounds. In the event none of the four was included in his Round One 23. So his principle was similar to Simon Middleton’s ‘non-playing reserve’ of recent years.
