Six Nations 2022: France Vs. Italy Preview & Key Stats

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Venue: Stade de France Date: Sunday, February 6 Kick-off:12:00 GMT
Coverage: You can watch highlights on BBC One and BBC iPlayer online.

France is confident that they will start their Six Nations campaign beating Italy at the Stade de France, despite some disruptions caused by Covid.

After testing positive for HIV, head coach Fabien Gallthie will not be able to attend the game. World Player of Year Antoine Dupont just returned from isolation.

Italy have suffered 32 losses in Six Nations history making them the longest losing team.

France is expected to win the Six Nations this year with three home games.

Galthie’s side is in a confident mood after beating New ZealandNovember

France has made two changes in their starting XV to beat the All Blacks. Julien Marchand has replaced Hooker Peato Mauvaka (who scored five tries in three Tests this autumn), while Dylan Cretin is preferable to Francois Cros at the back row.

Italy will hand debuts Toa Halafihi, number 8, and Tommaso Menoncello, winger, to another inexperienced side. Eighteen of the starting XV are capped with 10 caps or less.

Kieran Crowley, the head coach, has chosen 18 players from his former club Benetton for the matchday squad.

View from both camps

France head coach Fabien Galthie: “There is a prize to be won. It will be easier for us to approach it with more certainty and more confidence. We will have fewer surprises when it comes to our teams and the way we play.

Our goal has been to win every competition and match we participate in since the beginning.

We lost the first tournament by points difference to England, and we won the second tournament by a slight margin to Wales. The objective remains the same. Staff and players are constantly improving their preparations and methods. Our goal is to improve on the previous step.

Kieran Crowley is the head coach of Italy “The preparations for the Six Nations were intense and high-quality.

“There’s a lot of energy within the group, and they have a keen awareness of the fact that they are playing in one of the biggest tournaments in rugby and sports.” The emphasis is on performance. It is important to keep calm in key moments.

Line-ups

France:Jaminet, Penaud; Penaud. Danty. Fickou. Villiere. Ntamack. Dupont (capt); Baille. Marchand. Atonio. Woki. Willense. Jelonch. Cretin.

Replacements: Mauvaka, Gros, Bamba, Taofifenua, Cros, Lucu, Moefana, Ramos.

Italy: Padovani; Menoncello, Brex, Zanon, Ioane; Garbisi, Varney; Fischetti, Lucchesi, Pasquali, Cannone, Ruzza, Negri, Lamaro, Halafihi.

Replacements: Faiva, Nemer, Zilocchi, Fuser, Pettinelli, Zuliani, Braley, Marin.

France's 93% win ratio against Italy is their highest against any nation they have played more than five times

Match facts

Head-to-head

  • France has won eight Six Nations meetings in succession since they lost to the Azzurri 23-18 at the beginning of 2013.

France

  • France lost at home in 13 matches for the first time since last year’s Six Nations Finals when they played Scotland.
  • Antoine Dupont won the match against Italy and was named player-of-the-match. He carried eight balls, defeated two defenders and scored a try.

Italy

  • Italy’s current 32-match losing streak in Five/Six Nations is the longest in Five/Six Nations historical history.
  • In 2015, the Azzurri beat Scotland to win their only match in their 40 Six Nations matches.
  • Italy conceded 249 points during last season’s Six Nations campaign. This is their highest score since 2000, when they joined the tournament.

Match officials

Referee: Mike Adamson (Scotland).

Touch judges Nika Amashukeli (Georgia) & Damon Murphy (Australia)

TMO: Brett Cronan (Australia)

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