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Two years on from a fortuitous, famous draw at the Stade Pierre-Mauroy, France face Italy again in Lille, in a fixture that in spite of their excellent start to the Championship, represents their biggest test to date.
From the omission of stalwarts in the initial squad to entrusting the Pau rookie centres in Wales, Fabien Galthié has rightly drawn praise to date for his selection calls. It may be too strong to say he has blinked for the trip to the Belgian border, but at the very least the non-enforced squad changes acknowledge that the Azzurri scrum, rightly, needs to be taken seriously.
Exacerbated by the untimely retirement of Uini Atonio, tighthead has long been a problem area for France, and with the French scrum flattering to deceive in the first two weeks, Galthié has opted to try and counter the very real Italian threat through sheer heft. Dorian Aldegheri retains his place as a starter but will have the added benefit of 145kg of added grunt on the tighthead side, with his Toulouse teammate Emmanuel Meafou back among the starters.
Georges-Henri Colombe has had his detractors in recent times and is the closest thing to a shock selection, usurping Régis Montagne in the 18 shirt. Whilst his scrummaging has at time been unfairly maligned and has struggled for game time, he offers the greatest threat in the loose and, if nothing else, 6’4” and 140kg makes for an awkward proposition, not that Mirco Spagnolo has been much bothered by stats and reputations for the Azzurri in his appearances off the bench against Scotland and Ireland.
Fellow Toulousain Thibaud Flament returns to start alongside Meafou, meaning France’s two outstanding forwards in the tournament so far – Charles Ollivon and Mickaël Guillard – drop to the bench. Flament is still France’s premier lock, but it’s a surprise not to see one of Ollivon or Guillard retained in the back row, given that the pair have been the pre-eminent carriers for France in the first two rounds. Alongside Lenni Nouchi, they make for a daunting proposition off the bench if you’re an Italian fan.
The retention of the same back row is recognition of the breakdown threat posed by Michele Lamaro and Manuel Zuliani. François Cros and Anthony Jelonch have had relatively quiet tournaments up to now, but at their best are renowned for their dirty work in the shadows. Providing clean ruck ball and negating Italy’s jackal threat will go a long way to deciding the outcome here, and the onus will very much be on the Toulouse pair to lead that for France.
In the backs, Mathieu Jalibert’s reintegration into the French backline has been seamless, although it feels that there could still be more to come from the playmaking axis of him, Antoine Dupont and Thomas Ramos. Ramos has also been sublime in France’s two opening games, and on the eve of this 50th cap, slowly seems to be gaining the admiration of the wider rugby public that his all-round game deserves.
The Section Paloise pairing of Fabien Brau-Boirie and Émilien Gailleton continue and, alongside Jalibert, will provide a huge threat to the Italian midfield. Leonardo Marin is a fine operator, but the continued absence of Ignacio Brex, and in particular his defensive qualities, may be keenly felt. Brau-Boirie’s ability to fix defences to create space on the outside has been a defining feature of Pau’s ascension in the Top 14, and with Jalibert and Ramos possessing both playmaking smarts and an underappreciated turn of pace, the space outside the 13 channel might be an area for France to exploit.
In spite of their strong recent form and the timely return of Ange Capuozzo – as if to heighten the Toulouse flavour of the fixture throughout – a win for Italy would be one of their finest achievements. The scrum represents a fascinating sub-plot, but France will be hoping that the strength of their bench will be too much for the visitors, and that under the roof in a traditional football heartland, matching Italian brawn will allow their own footballing talents to shine.
A full preview of France v Italy can be found over on the Rosbifs Rugby YouTube channel: www.youtube.com/@RosbifsRugby