Rugby Union: Six Nations Match Report France 30 v 12 Italy

Ball In Touch: The 2012 competition got under way in Paris on Saturday, as World Cup Finalists France looked to avenge last year€™s defeat to Italy. Let us know what you thought of the game either in the comments below or on Twitter @Ballintouch and remember to use our handy beginners A-Z guide to rugby Just 104 days have passed since the World Cup Final, but it is all change for many of this year€™s Six nations sides. France are under the new management of Philippe Saint Andre and first up to get the tournament underway in Paris against Italy, in what was possibly the easiest result to call of the opening weekend. The Italians last meeting with Les Bleus resulted in victory for the Azzuri, so revenge was a phrase blowing around the Stade Francais. The French looked to probe the defence initially, the freezing cold meaning both sides took a while to warm up. Italy€™s first foray was fairly typical, using their forwards to bash away at the French defence. However a flock of Parisian pigeons were the only ones to budge, the move losing momentum as fly half KrisBurton snatched at a drop goal that was charged down. The first points of the day came from the boot of Yachvili as France were awarded a penalty. The Italians however were not to be outdone with some charges down the right manoeuvring the Italians into position for Burton to slot over a drop-goal to level things up. The Italians were looking like they were willing to take the French on and play some rugby. However, it was their defence they needed to worry about as Rougerie glided through a gaping gap, making a run from slow ball through a couple of static forwards to dot down. Yachvili converted. A few mistakes started to sneak in to the game with passes not going to hand and the hugely experienced Italian scrum started to shove their opposite numbers around. The Italians found the kick-chase approach profitable and were gifted a penalty chance when the French were slow to roll away. Burton took the score to 10-6. Kicks aside, the French defence looked solid, the Italians struggling to make possession count. From a fairly innocuous turnover, Picamoles broke from the back of the resultant scrum to feed winger Malzeui who showed good strength to fend off three Italian tacklers before being tackled over the line. Tachvili converted from a difficult angle. The half-time score was a respectable 15-6 to France, but neither side could have been said to have reached top speed yet. From the restart, a second kick failing to go ten metres brought a murmur of discontent from the home crowd, gifting the Italians the ball on half way. From this position they turned the screw, popping the French front row up in the scrum earning the penalty, but the kick fell short. A few reset scrums had the French scrum-half slapping his thighs in Gallic frustration before Rougerie turned villain by handling in the ruck meaning Burton kicked his third penalty of the day to narrow the gap. As the game fragmented, Trinch-Duc kicked over the top of the onrushing defence and Rougerie kneed the ball forward for Vincent Clerc to gather easily to score. The conversion took the score to 25-9 as the French started to look more threatening. Canale and Bortalami came on for Italy as the merry-go-round of substitutions started after 55 minutes. Botes, on for Burton, scored his first international points with a neat 40 plus metre kick as the French discipline became a bit sloppy as the margin was clearly deemed comfortable in their heads. But, despite losing 25-12, the Italians still looked energetic, loose ball being kicked through before being grounded for a French drop-out.

The arrival of Morgan Parra in his more customary position of scrum-half in place of Yachvili brought cheers from the home side. As the game entered the third quarter a 20 metre break by Parisse had the French scrambling as the game continued to open up, but the result looked increasingly likely with every passing moment. The French urgency between set pieces dropped along with the temperature, but the attacking threat remain. The French forwards battered away in front of the posts before impressing debutant centre Fofana beat his man to dive over. Despite Parra missing the conversion the score of 30-12 all but sealed the deal. Both sides worked their benches to give everyone a run out as the clocked ticked down. The Italians continued to try though, barely keeping possession from a cross-field kick as a few more jabs at the white wall almost bore fruit before a knock on took the clock over the 80 minute mark. A further mistake saw referee Nigel Owens blow his whistle to end the game with the score at 30-12 to the French. France will be fairly content with the second half display, looking dangerous with ball in hand as the game progressed and keeping the Italians from scoring any tries. As an opening game having the Italians as the first opposition was probably the best draw for them, as the slow start of the first half would have been punished by a better side. Instead it allowed them to build their canter, but never hit a full gallop. The Italians were always going to struggle, such is the paucity of top quality backs sadly in their side. The forwards continue to be a dominant force and one of the best in the world, but yet again once the ball goes past the number 8 you always feel they are punching above their weight. However they remained willing for the whole match and there was some encouraging stuff against what looked to be a very good French side. Four tries from the backs will have at least of satisfied Philippe Saint Andre for a first game in charge and the challenge now for both these sides is to find some higher gears for the next round of matches. FRANCE (15) 30 Tries: Rougerie, Malzieu, Clerc, Fofana Pens: Yachvili 2 Cons: Yachvili 2 ITALY (6) 12 Pens: Burton 2, Botes Drop-goal: BurtonFrance : 15-Maxime Medard, 14-Vincent Clerc, 13-Aurelien Rougerie, 12-Wesley Fofana, 11-Julien Malzieu, 10-Francois Trinh-Duc, 9-Dmitiri Yachvili; 1-Vincent Debaty, 2-William Servat, 3-Nicolas Mas, 4-Pascal Pape, 5-Lionel Nallet, 6-Thierry Dusautoir (captain), 7-Julien Bonnaire, 8-Louis Picamoles. Replacements:16-Dimitri Szarzweski, 17-Jean-Baptiste Poux, 18-Yoan Maestri, 19-Imanol Harinordoquy, 20- Morgan Parra, 21-Lionel Beauxis, 22-Maxime Mermoz. Italy : 15-Andrea Masi, 14-Giovanbattista Venditti, 13-Tommaso Benvenuti, 12-Alberto Sgarbi, 11-Luke Mclean, 10-Kris Burton, 9-Edoardo Gori; 1-Andrew Lo Cicero, 2-Leonardo Ghiraldini, 3-Martin Castrogiovanni, 4-Cornelius Van Zyl, 5-Quintin Geldenhuys, 6-Alessandro Zanni, 7-Robert Barbieri, 8-Sergio Parisse. Replacements: 16-Tommaso D'Apice, 17-Lorenzo Cittadini, 18-Marco Bortolami, 19-Simone Favaro, 20-Fabio Semenzato, 21-Tobias Botes, 22-Gonzalo Canale.