ITALY
No.Name
15Andrea Masi, FB
14Giovanbattista Venditti, W
13Tommaso Benvenuti, C
12Alberto Sgarbi, C
11Luke McLean, W
10Luciano Orquera, FH
2
9Tobie Botes, SH
1Andrea Lo Cicero Vaina, P
2Leonardo Ghiraldini, H
3Martin Castrogiovanni, P
T
4Quintin Geldenhuys, L
5Francesco Minto, L
6Alessandro Zanni, FL
7Simone Favaro, FL
8Sergio Parisse, N8
T
Replacements
16Davide Giazzon, H
17Alberto de Marchi, P
18Lorenzo Cittadini, P
19Antonio Pavanello, L
20Paul Derbyshire, FL
21Edoardo Gori, SH
22Kris Burton, FH
23Gonzalo Canale, C

*Players currently on the pitch are shown in bold

Game Info

Venue: Stadio Olimpico
3:00 PM, February 3, 2013
Attendance: 57,547
All CommentaryKey Events

Match Commentary

82'23-18 End of half
82'23-18 End of half
81'+123-18 End of second half
80'And that's it - after some incredible Italian defence they have bundled France into touch. What an incredible win for the Italians.
80'Player substituted - Kris Burton , Italy
80'Substitute on - Leonardo Ghiraldini , Italy
80'Yellow card - Davide Giazzon , Italy
79'Giazzon sin-binned for Italy and France opt for the scrum
78'France are hammering away at Italy's line and are just five metres out but Italy's defence is standing firm but eventually Les Bleus win the penalty
77'Italy have the ball in their own half and they are trying to hold on to it rather than kicking in behind the French line
75'Great scrum from France as they turn it against the head and draw the penalty
73'Sublime play from Italy as Venditti makes a great break and they recycle the ball eventually resulting in an Italy scrum
72'France have a lineout in a great position - about 5 metres from Italy's 22 but they are walking there rather than running - Italy seem to have more intensity
72'Player substituted - Tommaso Benvenuti , Italy
72'Player substituted - Quintin Geldenhuys , Italy
72'Substitute on - Antonio Pavanello , Italy
72'Substitute on - Gonzalo Canale , Italy
72'Player substituted - Yoann Huget , France
72'Substitute on - Francois Trinh-Duc , France
70'France are putting in a huge effort to break through the Italian's line but the Azzurri are standing firm. Despite hammering away, there is little pace on the ball and it is easy for Italy to defend
69'Substitute on - Damien Chouly , France
69'Player substituted - Louis Picamoles , France
69'23-18 Drop goal - Kris Burton , Italy
68'DROP-GOAL: Great piece of play from the replacement No.10 as he sits back in the pocket and slots the drop-goal in a similar fashion to Orquera in the first-half
67'Despite being two points ahead it is Italy who are playing all the rugby and not France who have to chase the game. Italy on France's 22
67'Player substituted - Nicolas Mas , France
67'Substitute on - Luc Ducalcon , France
64'Nothing happens as a result of the lineout with France given the scrum on their own 22
64'Player substituted - Luciano Orquera , Italy
64'Substitute on - Kris Burton , Italy
64'Player substituted - Simone Favaro , Italy
64'Substitute on - Paul Derbyshire , Italy
63'Big call from Brunel as he swaps Orquera, who has been superb, off for Kris Burton. Impressive scrum from Italy and they have a penalty about 48 metres out
63'Substitute on - Lorenzo Cittadini , Italy
63'Substitute on - Morgan Parra , France
63'Player substituted - Florian Fritz , France
63'Substitute on - Mathieu Bastareaud , France
63'Player substituted - Maxime Machenaud , France
63'Player substituted - Martin Castrogiovanni , Italy
62'Much to the delight of the Italian crowd, France's attempts to get into the Italian half prove to be fruitless and eventually the ball is bundled into touch. A few substitutions now with Cittadini on for Castrogiovanni and Machenaud on for Parra. Bastareaud is also on for Fritz
60'Italy have their tales up now and there is a sense of expectation in the stadium
59'Substitute on - Romain Taofifenua , France
59'Player substituted - Pascal Pape , France
59'20-18 Conversion - Luciano Orquera , Italy
58'Superb effort from Orquera to add the extras while Pascal Pape limps off for France
57'TRY - Unbelievable offload from Orquera to put Martin Castrogiovanni over the tryline - superb try
57'18-18 Try - Martin Castrogiovanni , Italy
56'Great run from Machenaud as he eats up the Italian turf and charges about 45 metres. He eventually knocks the ball on giving Italy the chance to counter attack through Parisse. Italy continue making solid yards with Benvenuti coming close to France's line
56'Substitute on - Davide Giazzon , Italy
56'Substitute on - Alberto de Marchi , Italy
56'Substitute on - Edoardo Gori , Italy
56'Player substituted - Andrea Lo Cicero Vaina , Italy
56'Player substituted - Leonardo Ghiraldini , Italy
56'Player substituted - Tobie Botes , Italy
55'There isn't the same intensity as the first-half with both teams opting for tactical kicking rather than carrying. Italy make some changes with Botes, Ghiraldini and Lo Cicero off.
53'Player substituted - Yannick Forestier , France
53'Substitute on - Benjamin Kayser , France
53'Player substituted - Dimitri Szarzewski , France
53'Substitute on - Vincent Debaty , France
52'Benjamin Kayser comes on for Dimitri Szarzewski. Michalak is now finding his radar and is putting in some lovely kicks in behind the Italian lines
51'Stupid play from Ghiraldini as he barges into Michalak and the fly-half will have another nudge from about the halfway line but his effort falls under the crossbar
50'France have really upped their tempo in the second-half and quite clearly want to kill this game off sooner rather than later
50'13-18 Penalty goal - Frederic Michalak , France
49'PENALTY - two steps from Michalak and he slots the penalty keeping it low
48'After a few scrum re-sets it is France who draw the penalty and about 38 metres out, Michalak opts for the kick
47'Picamoles sprints away from the Italian defence and over the halfway line but his offload to Ouedraogo goes forward - Italy scrum
46'Disappointing kick from Orquera as he tries to force France back but his kick goes out on the full
44'Italy try and carry forward but eventually they give away the penalty - France are on their 22 and can clear long into the Azzurri's half
42'Bit of a break in play with Ghiraldini receiving some attention
41'13-15 End of first half
40'We are off in the second-half and a loose kick from Michalak puts France under pressure but in the end, it is Les Bleus who get the lineout
40'Huget boots the ball out and that is half-time. A very enjoyable 40 minutes of rugby
40'13-15 Start of second half
38'France are back in Italy's 22 with Michalak threading a lovely grubber through which Huget nearly collects
37'It is Fofana's turn now to make a clean break and despite having Ouedraogo on his shoulder, he throws the pass into touch
36'Again Italy make some solid yards - Zanni this time - but he knocks it on, again trying to push the pace of the game
35'Italy attempt to get straight back into the match but despite some promising territory, they push the pace of the game too much and France have the ball back
34'13-15 Conversion - Frederic Michalak , France
34'13-13 Try - Benjamin Fall , France
33'TRY - Great try from France as Huget sprints away from the Italian defence and offloads to Benjamin Fall who canters over the tryline for his third try in French colours
32'France are trying to get some sort of phase play together but they are getting increasingly frustrated and end up kicking to touch - Italy will be happy with that
28'13-8 Penalty goal - Frederic Michalak , France
27'PENALTY - Italy are pinged for being offside but they manage to hold out the French attack. MIchalak opts to kick for the posts and the deficit is cut to five points
26'Ruthless from France as they transfer a lineout into midfield which leads to Huget carrying the ball over the tryline - we are going up to the TMO. It is far from clear, despite it looking probable that the French scored so we are back to the five-metre scrum
24'France are trying to find some momentum with Fall charging down the wing but some great defence from Masi brings their attack to an abrupt halt
22'Superb from Pape in the lineout as he steals the Italian's ball but credit to Italy - their defence constantly puts the French under pressure and they are panicked into kicking straight back to the opponent
21'Italy draw the penalty from the scrum and they have the chance to get some territory in the French half
20'Michalak charges down Luke McLean's kick and it very nearly bounces for the French fly-half. But at the moment Orquera is out-playing his French opponent.
18'13-5 Penalty goal - Luciano Orquera , Italy
17'PENALTY - Orquera's penalty is good and Italy have a well-deserved eight point lead
16'Parisse makes some great yards with ball in hand and it leads to France conceding the penalty with Maxime Mermoz offside
15'10-5 Drop goal - Luciano Orquera , Italy
14'DROP-GOAL - Orquera makes the right decision to slot the points with little else on - an absolutely belting start to the match
12'7-5 Try - Louis Picamoles , France
11'TRY - It is the turn of the French No.8 to get across the whitewash with Louis Picamoles benefiting from some great phase play from his team-mates to stretch out over the line and get the ball down
9'Michalak puts up a sublime arching cross kick which lands right on the Italian try-line. France have the scrum about eight metres out as a result of a knock on
7'Parisse swats away a French lineout on the Italy 5-metre line and the Azzurri take the play back to the half-way line
6'Castrogiovanni's clearly invigorated by the try and nearly takes off Huget's head with a high tackle
6'7-0 Conversion - Luciano Orquera , Italy
5'Orquera slots the extras from out wide - great start from the Azzurri
5'5-0 Try - Sergio Parisse , Italy
4'TRY - What a start from Italy as Orquera darts through the French defence, wings it to Sergio Parisse who out-sprints the scrambling tacklers to dive over the line
3'Italy's attack comes to nothing as Minto attempts an off-load that is snuffled up by the French defender
2'Italy draw the penalty and Orquera kicks long - they are on France's 22 trying to hammer through the blue wall
1'Nigel Owens blows the whistle and we are off in Rome but it is an awful start from fly-half Frederic Michalak, who has been playing at No.9 for Toulon this season, as he boots the kick-off out on the full
1'Welcome to our coverage of the third match in this season's Six Nations with Italy hosting France in the Stadio Olimpico. The last time the two teams met in Italy, it was the Azzurri who came away with perhaps the biggest win in their rugby history. All the latest Italy and France team news is here with a key battle at No.8 between talismanic skipper Sergio Parisse and Les Bleus' Louis Picamoles.
1'0-0 Start of first half

Six Nations Championship 2013 News