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France player ratings vs Italy | Rugby World Cup 2023
France have topped Pool A and claimed their spot in the Rugby World Cup quarter-finals with a comprehensive win over Italy in Lyon.
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After suffering a shell-shocking against the All Blacks last weekend, Italy were expected to put up more of a fight against their European neighbours but it took less than two minutes for Damian Penaud to grab the first try of the night. Three further scores followed in the first half and the home team went into the break with a comfortable 31-0 lead.
The second spell went even better for Les Bleus, with the World Cup hosts scoring another 39 points to triumph 60-7 after 80 minutes.
How did France rate in the win?
1. Cyril Baille – 7/10
An ever-willing carrier in the midfield. Off in 55th minute.
2. Peato Mauvaka – 8
Monsieur Everywhere for France. Showed soft hands when delivering the ball to teammates, making almost as many passes as fullback Thomas Ramos in the first half, but also showed plenty of intent when charging forward. Pinged once for not rolling away at the tackle. Nice work in the breakdown immediately after half time secured a penalty for France. Scored a relatively straightforward try off the back of the maul when the Azzurri forwards decided they weren’t interested in defending. Generally accurate a the lineout – but not perfect. Off in 55th minute.
3. Uini Atonio – 7
Like his front-row teammates, put his hand up to cart the ball up in the first half. Hit plenty of rucks and forced one penalty at scrum time. Off in 45th minute.
4. Cameron Woki – 7
France’s key man in the air, securing the ball on seven occasions. A nice offload in the opening minutes gave France some room to move in the build-up to their first score. Forced a maul turnover just metres out from Italy’s line with some wily work at the lineout and also claimed a lineout steal.
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5. Thibaud Flament – 5
Toiled away at the breakdown and defended resolutely but faded into the background. Off in 45th minute.
6. Anthony Jelonch – 7
Delivered a few strong spot tackles on unsuspecting Italian ball carriers. Always tucked in behind his teammates on attack to help create a bit of extra momentum.
7. Charles Ollivon – 8
France’s Captain Fantastic was hugely industrious on both sides of the ball. Took some crucial lineouts in Italy’s red zone and also managed one steal. Off in 55th minute.
8. Gregory Alldritt – 9
The man with the infinite engine. Constantly trucked the ball up with intent, making the most carries of any player on the field, and eventually finished as France’s top tackler with 15 to his name. Earned one breakdown penalty at the beginning of the second quarter.
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9. Maxime Lucu – 7
He’s not Antoine Dupont, but he was safe as houses deputising in the No 9 jersey. Notched up some excellent distance with his box kicks and looked sharp at the base of the ruck.
10. Matthieu Jalibert – 9
Continues to build into the role. Regularly challenged the line to great effect. Nice hands helped set up France’s first try of the night. Created the bonus-point score with a perfectly weighted kick for Damian Penaud. Scored one of his own after the break, waltzing around a couple of defenders close to the line. Added another assist early in the final quarter. Kicked an excellent 50-22 from inside his own 22 with time almost up. Sent one penalty dead.
11. Louis Bielle-Biarrey – 7
Some outstanding footwork saw the left wing grab Les Bleus’ second try. Chased down Paolo Garbisi to shut down what was looking like a probably try for the Azzurri. Had oodles of pace but didn’t get the ball in as much space as he would have liked.
12. Jonathan Danty – 7
Added some nice starch in the centre of the park when France needed to reset. Showed off his great work over the ball, forcing two penalties at the breakdown.
13. Gael Fickou – 5
Straightened the line but otherwise had a relativley quiet night. Made one sneaky steal when at the back of the ruck when Italy were building their phases. Penalised for advancing in front of the kicker. Off in 61st minute.
14. Damian Penaud – 8
Grabbed the first try of the night when he swapped from the right-hand flank to the left to finish off a nice Les Bleus attack. Swept around the backline (and three Italian defenders) to create another scoring opportunity for his team but then grubbered the ball into touch when there were better options available. Made amends with his kicking game moments later when he dinked a ball over the top to Bielle-Biarrey to give the left winger the space needed to score France’s second. Cut in-field and delivered an offload to Thomas Ramos for their third then made no mistakes off a Jalibert cross-kick for the bonus point try. Had a much quieter second half but had already done plenty of damage in the first.
Attack 
164
Passes
164
143
Ball Carries
112
254m
Post Contact Metres
270m
11
Line Breaks
4
15. Thomas Ramos – 7
Assured as a first receiver. Set up France’s opening try with a lovely draw and pass to send Penaud in untouched. Sent one clearance dead but then nailed a 48-metre penalty when the play was called back for an Italian offside. Kicked seven of his eight attempts on the posts to help keep the scoreboard ticking over. Off in 61st minute.
Reserves:
16. Pierre Bourgarit – 7
On in 55th minute. Safe at lineout tie and make some excellent carries in the narrow channels.
17. Reda Wardi – 5
On in 55th minute. No issues at the set-piece but didn’t get too involved elsewhere.
18. Dorian Aldegheri – 6
On in 45th minute. Made plenty of tackles in his time on the pitch.
19. Romain Taofifenua – 6
On in 45th minute. Looked great when France had front-foot ball.
20. Francois Cros – 5
On in 55th minute. Put his head down and went to work at the breakdown.
21. Baptiste Couilloud – 6
On in 55th minute. Maintained the pace of delivery established by Lucu. Made a couple of nice cover tackles when Italy spotted some small holes in the defence.
22. Yoram Moefana – 7
On in 61st minute. Made one nice carry down the left flank then scored in the right-hand corner moments later. Grabbed his second with five minutes left to play. Had to tidy up the ball in the other in-goal following the kick-off.
23. Melvyn Jaminet – 6
On in 61st minute. Not quite as composed at the back as Ramos.
Comments on RugbyPass
Interesting comments about Touch. England’s hosting the Touch World Cup this year and the numbers have exploded since their last World Cup in 2019, something like 70% more teams and 40 nations taking part. And England Touch have made a big thing about how many universities are in their BUCS University Touch Championship as well as Sport England membership. Can only see this growing even more domestically as more people become aware of it
10 Go to comments“Cortez Ratima is light years ahead of anyone on current form, while TJ Perenara has also skyrocketed into contention following the unfortunate injury to the talented Cam Roigard.” At last some sanity. Hitherto so many pundits have been wittering on about Finlay Christie to the point one wondered if they were observing a FC in a parallel universe where the FC they saw wasnt just the mediocre Shayne Philpott project of Fosters hapless AB reign in the real world. Ratima, Perenara and Fakatava are the ONLY logical 9s for Razor now Roigard is crocked.
2 Go to commentsThis game was just as painful as the Hurricanes game. It was real fork-in-the-eye stuff.
2 Go to commentsNow if they could just fire the Crusaders ground PA guy who likes to play his dance music and just loves the sound of his own voice the entire game, even when play is going on. And I thought their brass band thing of a few years ago was bad.
5 Go to commentsUnfortunately when you lose by far the two form players this season in Roigard and Aumua, you're left replacing two game changing Tanks with a couple of pea-shooters. Which is also about the speed of TJs pass.
2 Go to commentsBit rich coming from the guy with zero loyalty to anyone or any team, including happily taking a players place in a league world cup squad because well, SBW wanted to play in it and thus an already named player got told he was no longer going. And airing stuff like this, which may or may not be true, doesn't exactly say you're a stand up guy either SBW. Just looking to keep his name in lights as usual.
38 Go to commentsTamati Tua. …the Taniwha NPC midfielder. Ollie Sapsford, Hawkes Bay NPC midfielder…doing well
2 Go to commentsFiji deserve to be in the rugby championship, fans love seeing the Fijian national team play, the Fijian Drua is a wonderful idea but the players can still be stolen to play for NZ and AUS…
1 Go to commentsThe first concern for this afternoon are wheather forecast…
1 Go to commentsWhy cant I watch Rugby games please?
1 Go to commentsBeautiful shot from Finau, end of story. Gutted for Shaun Stevenson though.
4 Go to commentsThe Chiefs definitely didn’t win ugly. They had the superior scrum, a dominant lineout, and their defence was excellent once the Waratahs scored their two tries (thanks to some lucky refereeing calls mind you). They put pressure on the Waratahs lineout throughout the game, and the mind boggles as to why the referee did not award a yellow card or a penalty try against the Waratahs for repeated scrum infringements on their own try line before Narawa’s first try. And the Chiefs were slick with their passing and running angles on attack. It was a dominant performance all round, even with many questionable refereeing decisions.
1 Go to commentsWasnt late. Ref 2 assistants andTMO all saw it so who are you to say it was?
4 Go to commentsAre the Brumbies playing the Blues twice in a row?
4 Go to commentsBig difference from the Saders. Forwards really muscled up and laid a solid platform. Scooter brought some steel and I liked the loosie combination. Newell has been rather disappointing this season but stepped up big time - happy also to see Franks dot down. He should do that more often! Reihana had a good game and there seems to be more flair and invention with him in the saddle. McNicoll plays well from the back and is reliable plus inventive when he joins the line. Keep it up chaps!
5 Go to comments🤦♂️🤣 who cares who’s the best . All I know is the All Blacks have the star coach but have few star players now …
33 Go to commentsJe suis sûr que Farrell est impatient de jouer avec Lopez et Machenaud et d’être entraîné par Collazo… 🤭
1 Go to commentsAn on field red (aka a full red) in SRP must surely carry a bigger suspension than a red card given by the bunker as that carries a 20 minute team punishment. Had Damon Murphy abdicated his responsibility as a ref and issued both Drua players a yellow, which would have been upgraded to a 20 minute red by the bunker, that would have killed Australia and New Zealand’s push for the 20 minute red to be trialled globally from July this year.
11 Go to commentsEver so often you all post a Danny Care story that isn’t the announcement that he has finally re-signed for one more, victory tour season at Quins and I’m just like, “well you fooled me again!” My absolute favorite player ever, we need to make his final year at the Stoop (and Twickers) official already. I know he supposedly snubbed France but I won’t feel better until he signs.
1 Go to commentslate hit what late hit it wasn’t at all late and can clearly see he was committed before the tackle
4 Go to comments