Six Nations, Round 4 – Italy v France
Stadio Sergio Lanfranchi, Parma
A tight and dramatic game till the final stages.
Italy coughed the ball up inside 15 seconds. Another wrap-around move by Pauline Bourdon Sansus and perfectly timed passes gave Joanna Grisez an easy run-in on the right. Was this going to be a walkover for Les Bleues? 0-7
Italy’s first infringement almost led to a second try. PBS tapped and went. The pack thundered ahead, but Sara Cox spotted an illegal block.
Now back to 2025 traditions: a TMO intervention brought Madoussou Fall Raclot a yellow plus a bunker review. Her high tackle on Elisa Giordano looked for all the world like a light-heavyweight’s upper-cut, but not with her fist.
The decision was ‘yellow only’. Phew!
It took Italy fifteen minutes to reach the French 22. After one unsuccessful drive, a second worked
wonders; Vittoria Vecchini took the plaudits. 7-7
Even after MFR’s return the Italian rolling maul was proving effective. Sara Cox was down at
grass-top level to deny Silvia Turani a legal touchdown, but France were incuring penalties. Another demanding home attack sent the ball wide to Aura Muzzo who walked over unaccompanied. Not even France could maintain a full-width defence under this pressure. 14-7
Inside the half-hour France responded in kind, Morgane Bourgeois was on the end of a powerful attack. She dotted down one-handed, like another No 15 I know. Her kick hit the outside of the right-hand post. 14-12
As France infringed for the twelfth time, the Azzurre pack drove to the line, but were held up for the fifth time. Memo: Muzzo had scored when they spread the ball.
From their 15th successful line-out out of 15 (!) Italy seemed to score from yet another drive, but it needed earnest checks by the TMO before he accepted Cox’s verdict of a try to Silvia Turani.
Half-time: Italy 21 France 12
It’s lucky no-one listened to my forecast of a runaway win for the visitors. But Italy were confounding other people’s expectations too. The pack was more than holding its own; the two 19-year-olds, Sara Mannini and Alia Bitonci, were showing up well, and spirits were high.
A dubious penalty decision against Beatrice Veronese gave Bourgeois three points from in front.
21-15
Repeating groove: another penalty against the French, another Italian drive to the line and another ‘held up’. That inability to get the ball down cleanly was to prove costly.
Now it was all France. They thundered at the line. How did the Italians keep them out? Grisez was chopped down in a double tackle a metre from the line when at full pace. Then finally Cox penalised the attackers! A triumph for the hosts.
Now came the usual 50th-minute changes, no doubt with more urgent messages from the French staff.
Why did Vittoria Ostuni Minuzzi not touch down an over-ambitious French kick into in- goal? The result was a try to Romane Ménager, making up for months away. A quite unnecessary bloomer. 21-22
Italy came again with threatening runs by VOM and Michela Sillari, but Carla Arbez made a fine tackle, then cleared up to halfway. Bourgeois had another chance at goal, but she missed.
Veronica Madia was lucky when a delayed clearance was charged down, then followed by a French forward pass. Tthat would have been a fourth try plus the bonus.
A second error at the breakdown by Sillari gave Bourgeois a kick straight in front; she missed for a second time. French hands covered faces.
In response Les Bleues found a higher gear, but after many phases they knocked on.
With six minutes left Italy had a scrum but were 75 metres from their target. No, the TMO spotted another high tackle by Sillari, her third infringement in a few minutes. She won’t recall this match with pleasure.
75 minutes, and it was the French pack’s turn to be held up over the line. From here it was harum- scarum. Veronese won a great turnover and the Azzurre tried desperately to run the length of the field, but Madia lost control of the ball, and Marine Ménager ran it over the line for that crucial bonus.
More desperate attacks by Italy; another short chip by Madia misfired, Gaby Vernier found a gap and Alex Chambon made the game look like a walkover with a fifth try.
Result: Italy 21 France 34
Player of the Match: Madoussou Fall Raclot (another interesting decision, given her yellow card; perhaps they don’t matter after all)
Referee: Sara Cox (RFU)
Teams:
Italy
1 Silvia Turani 2 Vittoria Vecchini 3 Sara Seye 4 Valeria Fedrighi 5 Giordana Duca 6 Beatrice Veronese 7 Alissa Ranuccini 8 Elisa Giordano (captain) 9 Alia Bitonci 10 Veronica Madia 11 Alyssa D’Incá 12 Sara Mannini 13 Michela Sillari 14 Aura Muzzo 15 Vittoria Ostuni Minuzzi
16 Desiree Spinelli 17 Emanuela Stecca 18 Gaia Maris 19 Sara Tounesi 20 Francesca Sgorbini 21 Sofia Stefan 22 Beatrice Capomaggi 23 Beatrice Rigoni
France
1 Yllana Brosseau 2 Manon Bigot 3 Assia Khalfaoui 4 Manaé Feleu 5 Madoussou Fall Raclot 6 Romane Ménager 7 Nassira Okemba 8 Téani Feleu 9 Pauline Bourdon Sansus 10 Carla Arbez 11 Emilie Boulard 12 Gabrielle Vernier 13 Marine Ménager 14 Joanna Grisez 15 Morgane Bourgeois 15 Elisa Riffonneau 17 Ambre Mwayembe 18 Clara Joyeux 19 Charlotte Escudero 20 Axelle Berthoumieu 21 Léa Champon 22 Alex Chambon 23 Lina Queyroi
Afterthoughts
The final score is totally misleading. The hosts were in charge for large chunks or the game, France making far more tackles, and missing far more.
But once again the final few minutes proved too long for the Azzurre. Their review will spot any number of times they should have scored, the ball all too rarely being spread to the dangerous outside backs.
At the final whistle France’s delight contained a huge dose of relief. In four matches they’ve conceded 63 points. Once the English have watched the game through, they won’t be excessively nervous of next week’s encounter.
