Player Ratings - France vs Italy
- 4630
- Hugo Bonneval – 8/10
The Toulon man came away with the MOTM award for his performance in Marseille tonight. He managed to get over for a try in the 2nd half and started a few French attacks with his dangerous running game.
- Benjamin Fall – 7/10
The winger comes into the French XV with a lot to do to live up to the bar set by Teddy Thomas over the last few weeks. Though he didn’t threaten as much with ball in hand, he was key to France’s defence. He swept up in behind on a number of occasions to prevent Italy from causing an upset.
- Mathieu Bastareaud – 8/10
The Italian defence really struggled to contain the juggernaut centre today. He beat a massive 6 defenders and got his hands free for the offload on numerous occasions. He was the catalyst for Bonneval’s 2nd half try as he sucked in defenders, freeing up space out wide. He justly got over for a try in the final 10 minutes to contribute to his country’s win.
- Geoffrey Doumayrou – 6/10
A quiet game from the centre as he struggled with ball in hand. He had a couple of handling errors but beat a couple of defenders nonetheless. He had perfect tackle success rate which may keep him in the side in 2 weeks’ time. Not a disastrous performance from the La Rochelle star.
- Remy Grosso – 8/10
Unlucky not to get in for a try after making over 100m in attack. He used his immense power to shrug off defenders and was on the shoulder of his teammates in support, time and time again.
- Lionel Beauxis – 6/10
The stand-off repeatedly made erratic decisions to throw miss passes and speculative offloads, rather than use his quality teammates to carry in tight. He did provide us with some pieces of pure brilliance, including a pinpoint accurate cross-field kick, but a more consistent performance is needed from an international out-half.
- Maxime Machenaud – 8/10
Arguably could have won the MOTM award tonight as his fantastic goal-kicking kept France in the lead. Ran the game well, moving his forwards around the field. Good box kicking turned Italy on their heels.
- Marco Tauleigne – 8/10
The new number 8 has made the shirt his own, despite calls for Picamoles to be brought back into the squad. He was France’s top ball carrier, making 76m from 17 carries. He was unlucky to not get over for a try after his huge linebreak in the 2nd half.
- Yacouba Camara – 7/10
The flanker was substituted quite early given the huge shift he put in on the night. He managed to carry 11 times and get the hands free for the offload on 5 of those occasions. A couple of steals at the lineout kept Italy on the back-foot as did his perfect 9 tackles.
- Wenceslas Lauret – 7/10
The Racing blindside won a couple of crucial turnovers for the French which stunted Italy’s momentum. He also carried well for a gain of 32m, including 1 linebreak and 2 defenders beaten.
- Sebastien Vahaamahina – 6/10
Surprisingly the 2nd row didn’t concede any penalties this week. He managed to make 6 tackles, missing none, which is quite low for a tight-five forward.
- Paul Gabrillagues – 7/10
The second row went over for his side’s first try as he opportunistically reached over the try-line from close-range. He had a quiet game from there on out in attack, but managed to make 12 tackles for his side, helping them to shut-down the Italian’s attack.
- Rabah Slimani – 7/10
A good shift from the tighthead as he kept the scrum stable for the 70 minutes he was on the field.
- Guilhem Guirado – 6/10
Not a typical performance from les Bleus captain. He carried well in attack but his defence left much to be desired as he missed almost half of his 9 tackles and conceded 2 penalties.
- Yefferson Poirot – 7/10
The Bordeaux-Begles man was widely tipped to be a great addition to the French scrum during the week. He did not disappoint as they put it up to a strong Italian pack.
Italy
1. Andrea Lovotti 6/10