France march towards Six Nations Grand Slam

France recorded a bonus-point (33-8) win against a spirited Italy in Lille to maintain their bid for a Six Nations Grand Slam and back-to-back titles. Les Bleus raced into a 19-0 lead through tries by Louis Bielle-Biarrey, Emmanuel Meafou and Thomas Ramos, who was a late switch at fly-half after Matthieu Jalibert was ruled out of the game.

Despite the early dominance on the scoreboard, Italy remained competitive and responded through an Ange Capuozzo try and a Paolo Garbisi penalty.

With Louis Lynagh in the sin-bin, debutant Gael Drean grabbed the vital bonus-point try and Emilien Gailleton crossed in a less eventful second half.

The visitors have only beaten France twice in the Six Nations, with the 2024 game ending in a thrilling draw in Lille.

France next travel to Edinburgh to face Scotland on Saturday, 7 March, while Italy host England on the same day. A bonus-point victory at Murrayfield will not only clinch the title for Fabien Galthie’s side but also set up the chance of winning a first Grand Slam in the championship’s final match against England.

“I think we always believed we would get the bonus-point win,” Meafou told ITV.

“We knew Italy were a strong team, they hung in for 80 minutes, they never cracked and they never let go.“Our goal is to take out the Six Nations game by game but the end goal is the 2027 World Cup so we keep working towards that.”Gonzalo Quesada’s Italy defeated Scotland in the opening round but ran out of steam in the closing stages of the second half against Ireland and Les Bleus.

Italy will now target a first win over an England side who have suffered back-to-back heavy defeats. 

(BBC sport)