France flew into the quarter-finals of the Rugby World Cup with a dominant display against Italy that saw them score 57 points with hardly a reply in Lyon.
Damian Penaud was the first to go over the line, scoring the opening try two minutes into the match as France began as they meant to go on. A penalty kick right in front of the sticks was dispatched by Thomas Ramos before Louis Bielle-Biarry took control of the ball from a kick off Penaud, shuffled inside leaving two defenders on the floor, and was brought down for a try to send France further ahead.
Ramos then scored and Penaud dove over for his second try to secure a bonus point before half-time. Simone Ferrari also believed he had pulled some points back for Italy only for his try to be chalked off by a TMO review.
After the restart, France continued to dominate. Tries from Matthieu Jalibert, Peato Mauvake, and Yoram Moefana took them over the 50 mark before a second for Moefana put the icing on the cake. A consolation try for Italy’s Manuel Zuliani will not take the sting out of a second bruising defeat as the Azzurri exit the World Cup at the Pool stage.
Relive all the action as France host Italy in the Pool A decider plus get all the latest Rugby World Cup odds and tips here:
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Matthieu Jalibert’s magic touch leads France into Rugby World Cup quarter-finals
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France cruise into the quarter-finals with a barnstorming win over Italy in the final Pool A match
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Les Bleus top the pool with victory and knock Italy out of the Rugby World Cup
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PENALTY! France 60-7 (Melvyn Jaminet kick, 80 minutes)
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TRY! France 57-7 (Yoram Moefana try, 75 minutes)
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TRY! France 52-7 Italy (Manuel Zuliani try, 71 minutes)
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TRY! France 52-0 Italy (Yoram Moefana, 64 minutes)
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TRY! France 45-0 Italy (Peato Mauvaka try, 54 minutes)
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TRY! France 38-0 Italy (Matthieu Jalibert try, 47 minutes)
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TRY! France 31-0 Italy (Damian Penaud try, 38 minutes)
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TRY! France 24-0 Italy (Thomas Ramos try, 22 minutes)
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TRY! France 17-0 Italy (Louis Bielle-Biarrey try, 13 minutes)
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PENALTY! France 10-0 Italy (Thomas Ramos kick, 7 minutes)
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TRY! France 7-0 Italy (Damian Penaud try, 2 minutes)
Matthieu Jalibert’s magic touch leads France into Rugby World Cup quarter-finals
22:48 , Mike Jones
Antoine Dupont’s absence was barely felt as Matthieu Jalibert produced plenty of magic to help France punch their ticket for the Rugby World Cup quarter-finals by crushing Italy 60-7 on Friday.
Flyhalf Jalibert’s lightning quick passing and inspired try lifted Les Bleus to the top of Pool A with other tries by Damian Penaud (2), Louis Bielle-Biarrey, Peato Mauvaka, Yoram Moefana (2) and Thomas Ramos, who also scored 15 points from the tee.
Fabien Galthie’s team, without Dupont as the mercurial scrumhalf recovers from cheekbone surgery, won all their group games and are likely to face defending champions South Africa on October 15, even if Ireland and Scotland are still possible opponents for a place in the last four.
Matthieu Jalibert’s magic touch leads France into Rugby World Cup quarter-finals
FT France 60-7 Italy
22:39 , Mike Jones
Reaction from France’s Gregory Alldritt:
22:33 , Mike Jones
“We are going to enjoy the weekend because it was a tough game today. Lots of recovery this weekend and we prepare the quarter-final after tomorrow night’s game.
“It’s a tough one after one month without playing [for me]. Happy with the team performance, it was a really a 23 player game today.”
Player of the match – Gregory Alldritt
22:30 , Imogen Ainsworth
After an impressive performance from France’s captain, he says: “The first step is done, now we’ve got a quarter-final to play.”
Full time stats
22:11 , Imogen Ainsworth
Top tackles – Sebastian Negri (Italy, 22)
Top carries – Gregory Alldritt (France, 12)
Metres carried – France 519, Italy 439
Tackles – France 137 (87% success), Italy 166 (80% success)
Penalties conceded – France 6, Italy 16
Scrum success – France 6/7, Italy 2/4
Lineout success – France 13/15, Italy 10/12
FULL TIME France 60 – 7 Italy
21:51 , Imogen Ainsworth
An absolute spectacle from France, a joy to watch. Slightly terrifying viewing for anyone who’s set to face them this RWC, they’ll be difficult to stop. Four wins from four from the home side who progress to the quarter-finals!
Gregory Alldritt is named player of the match after an impressive and ruthless shift to get France over the line and also deny Italy, a well-deserved winner.
An honourable mention must also go to Jalibert who was a key figure in much of their attack.
PENALTY! France 60 – 7 Italy
21:50 , Imogen Ainsworth
80 mins: Jaminet puts an end to a very impressive French performance in Lyon!
France 57 – 7 Italy
21:48 , Imogen Ainsworth
78 mins: France get the 50-22 from Jalibert’s kick and want to take it quickly but Dickson’s whistle stops them from going any further.
TRY! France 57 – 7 Italy
21:44 , Imogen Ainsworth
75 mins: Moefana scores his second! He launches himself through the defence to the line from short range after receiving the pass from Jailbert again, who has been excellent this evening. Conversion missed.
CONVERSION! France 52 – 7 France
21:39 , Imogen Ainsworth
71 mins: Allan adds the conversion!
TRY! France 52 – 5 Italy
21:38 , Imogen Ainsworth
70 mins: Italy get their first try! Manuel Zuliani gets over the line despite the best efforts of three defenders clinging onto him. All of their efforts in the build-up led to that score, the first real momentum we’ve really seen so far in Lyon.
France 52 – 0 Italy
21:36 , Imogen Ainsworth
70 mins: Italy starting to string together some more positive passages of play now as we enter the final 10 minutes.
TRY! France 52 – 0 Italy
21:31 , Imogen Ainsworth
63 mins: Jalibert throws the pass over to Yoram Moefana (who’s only just come off the bench) and he scores in the corner! Excellent under pressure again from Jalibert to deliver the pass, expertly finished by Moefana who has a smooth run to the line. Melvyn Jaminet converts.
France 45 – 0 Italy
21:26 , Imogen Ainsworth
59 mins: Italy have a lineout in the 22 as Thomas Ramos is penalised for contact in the air. France then win the penalty in the phases that follow and Italy weren’t able to make use of the possession they briefly had.
CONVERSION! France 45 – 0 Italy
21:20 , Imogen Ainsworth
55 mins: It’s Ramos again!
TRY! France 43 – 0 Italy
21:20 , Imogen Ainsworth
54 mins: Peato Mauvaka splinters away from the maul after the lineout and crosses the line! A well-executed try from the hooker for France’s sixth.
France 38 – 0 Italy
21:17 , Imogen Ainsworth
51 mins: Italy have the possession from the lineout but Fickou steals the ball in the phases that follow and runs down the pitch. France then earn the penalty and go to the corner.
France 38 – 0 Italy
21:15 , Imogen Ainsworth
50 mins: France give the penalty away for not releasing, Italy to the corner.
CONVERSION! France 38 – 0 Italy
21:13 , Imogen Ainsworth
47 mins: Ramos gets the two points!
TRY! France 36 – 0 Italy
21:12 , Imogen Ainsworth
46 mins: Jalibert spots a gap and weaves his way to the line after an initial dummy pass! France with 12 phases of attack to break down the Italian defence. The fly-half scores with excellent footwork to the delight of the home crowd.
Italian defence all over the place, France really wearing them down.
France 31 – 0 Italy
21:08 , Imogen Ainsworth
43 mins: Ferrari gives away the penalty in the scrum, Jalibert to the corner. Italy captain Michele Lamaro and scrum-half Stephen Varney both replaced very early on into this fixture. Lamaro doesn’t look impressed. Some interesting calls from Crowley in what is most likely his final match in charge.
Changes soon follow for France as they replace Flament and Atonio with Aldegheri and Taofifenua.
France 31 – 0 Italy
21:05 , Imogen Ainsworth
41 mins: Italy give away an early penalty and Jalibert goes to the corner, but the angle isn’t quite right. Italy scrum. Capuozzo has failed his HIA and will miss the remainder of the match.
SECOND HALF France 31 – 0 Italy
21:04 , Imogen Ainsworth
40 mins: Tommaso Allan kicks off the second half in Lyon!
FIRST HALF STATS France 31 – 0 Italy
20:54 , Imogen Ainsworth
Most tackles – Charles Ollivon (France, 11)
Most metres – Tommaso Allan (Italy, 53)
Most carries – Gregory Alldritt (France, 8)
Territory – France 58%, Italy 42%
Tackles – France 75 (93% success), Italy 83 (79% success)
HALF TIME France 31- 0 Italy
20:49 , Imogen Ainsworth
Ramos’ penalty kick attempt goes slightly wide to end the half, but France have been relentless so far.
CONVERSION! France 31 – 0 Italy
20:47 , Imogen Ainsworth
38 mins: Ramos adds the extras!
TRY! France 29 – 0 Italy
20:47 , Imogen Ainsworth
37 mins: Penaud gets the bonus point! A fantastic kick under pressure from Jalibert after the ball is received from the lineout and the winger gathers it perfectly to score in the corner. It’s his sixth try this RWC.
NO TRY! France 24 – 0 Italy
20:42 , Imogen Ainsworth
34 mins: Ferrari’s clearance in the build up strikes off his own try there as his challenge on Maxime Lucu makes chest contact first and then head contact before the try. Try disallowed, and Ferrari avoids a yellow card.
TRY! France 24 – 5 Italy
20:39 , Imogen Ainsworth
33 mins: After 17 phases, Simone Ferrari gets Italy a well-needed try after some gutsy French defending.
France 24 – 0 Italy
20:36 , Imogen Ainsworth
30 mins: Ange Capuozzo goes off for a HIA, Italy have the ball after a deliberate knock on and Paolo Garbisi kicks for the corner. Lorenzo Pani comes on as fullback.
France 24 – 0 Italy
20:30 , Imogen Ainsworth
26 mins: Tommaso Allan is closed down by three French defenders and knocks the ball on after his run with Ange Capuozzo who initially gave him the pass. Allan looks to have spotted space but France don’t let him get very far. France have the scrum.
TRY! France 24- 0 Italy
20:26 , Imogen Ainsworth
21 mins: Matthieu Jalibert switches inside to Damian Penaud, before the ball pops up from the next pass to Gael Fickou for fullback Ramos to collect and dive over in the corner! He converts his own score.
France 17 – 0 Italy
20:21 , Imogen Ainsworth
17 mins: Louis Bielle-Biarrey looks to give the offload out wide but he’s nudged slightly into touch.
CONVERSION! France 17 – 0 Italy
20:17 , Imogen Ainsworth
14 mins: Ramos adds the conversion!
TRY! France 15 – 0 Italy
20:16 , Imogen Ainsworth
12 mins: Brilliant play from France, superbly finished by some outstanding footwork from young winger Louis Bielle-Biarrey who dodges three players before reaching the line! Sublime footwork in the corner for France’s second try. Italy have barely been in the match so far, France completely dominant in attack.
France 10 – 0 Italy
20:12 , Mike Jones
9 mins: Simone Ferrari penalised for being offside now, Jalibert goes to the corner.
PENALTY! France 10 – 0 Italy
20:09 , Imogen Ainsworth
6 mins: Italy are penalised for being offside and Ramos takes the opportunity to slot the 49 m kick straight down the middle. France have a 10-point lead in the first six minutes.
CONVERSION! France 7 – 0 Italy
20:05 , Imogen Ainsworth
3 mins: Ramos adds the two points!
TRY! France 5 – 0 Italy
20:04 , Imogen Ainsworth
2 mins: What a brilliant start for France! They keep possession and score an early try through Damian Penaud! The ball floats from Cameron Woki through the hands of Jalibert to the winger who scores in the corner. It’s his 13th the calendar year, and he breaks the record for the most tries scored in that period.
Kick-off! France 0 – 0 Italy
20:02 , Imogen Ainsworth
0 mins: France get the match started!
50th Cap
19:55 , Imogen Ainsworth
Simone Ferrari leads the two sides out on his 50th appearance for Italy! Anthems to follow shortly with France first and then Italy.
Five minute warning!
19:54 , Imogen Ainsworth
Not long until kick-off now at the OL Stadium in Lyon! The teams will be heading out for the anthems shortly.
Head coach – Fabien Galthié
19:53 , Imogen Ainsworth
France head coach Fabien Galthié has never lost a match against Italy, as a coach or a player. He faced them as a player in 1997 and 2001, and has coached his country to all five matches they’ve played with him as coach since 2020.
Kieran Crowley wants to honour Italy’s identity
19:48 , Mike Jones
Italy head coach, Kieran Crowley, hopes to honour the identity of his team when they take on France tonight. The game is likely going to be Crowley’s final one in charge of the Azzurri unless they pull off a shock win over the hosts.
“Our focus will be on our performance,” he said, “We worked during the week thinking about this next game. We want to honour our identity as a team and try to take a step forward.”
France vs Italy quarter-final permutations
19:42 , Mike Jones
France will top the group if they beat Italy in their final game.
If Italy win, though, they should be through – France’s failure to get a bonus point against Uruguay leaves them vulnerable. Even if the two European teams finish locked together on 14 points – Italy win without a bonus point and France finish within seven – Italy will advance due to their final weekend win.
The complex scenario could come if Italy beat France with a bonus point, while the hosts take both a losing and try bonus point – it would leave all three teams locked on 15 points.
In that case, the group winner would come down to points difference, with New Zealand top, and Italy, again, through by dint of their head-to-head victory over France.
New Zealand thrash Uruguay as All Blacks storm into World Cup quarter-finals
19:36 , Mike Jones
The All Blacks stormed into the World Cup quarter-finals with another mesmeric display of attacking rugby to put down an initially troublesome Uruguay 73-0 in their final Pool A match on Thursday.
After losing their tournament opener to France, New Zealand ran in 11 tries against Namibia, 14 against Italy and added another 11 against Los Teros at OL Stadium.
Damian McKenzie score two tries and made a couple more in an outstanding display, while winger Will Jordan grabbed his 26th and 27th five-pointers in only his 28th test with a performance just as good.
New Zealand thrash Uruguay as All Blacks storm into World Cup quarter-finals
France vs Italy referee: Who is Rugby World Cup official Karl Dickson?
19:30 , Mike Jones
England’s Karl Dickson is one of the officials at the 2023 Rugby World Cup. The former professional player ended a long top-level career in 2017 having narrowly missed out on international caps.
Younger brother Lee, also a scrum half, appeared 18 times for England between 2012 and 2014. However, Karl has rapidly risen through the refereeing ranks after starting his officiating journey while still playing for Harlequins.
France vs Italy referee: Who is Rugby World Cup official Karl Dickson?
Pre-match thoughts – Anthony Jelonch
19:24 , Mike Jones
France back row Anthony Jelonch spoke about the World Cup after returning from injury.
He said: “I’m able to enjoy it properly, tell myself it’s real because I’ve been preparing for it for three months. Now I’m out on the pitch, I’m gradually getting back into the swing of things.
“In the first match, I was a bit worried about my knee and my fitness. The second match went perfectly. I’m gradually getting stronger. It’s been seven months since my operation, so everything’s normal. I’m past the normal healing period.”
Pre-match thoughts – Sebastian Negri
19:18 , Imogen Ainsworth
Sebastian Negri shared his excitement about facing France.
He said: “Excited. I think it’s been a really good week after a difficult performance against New Zealand. We’ve kept positive, we’ve dusted ourselves off and the boys are really excited to showcase what this team is about. I can’t wait.
“We’ve forgotten about New Zealand. We had a short review on it but our immediate focus has been on France. It’s another massive opportunity for us. We are not thinking about what’s happened; we are thinking about the future and what we can control, and that starts tomorrow at 9:00 pm.”
Player stats – Italy
19:12 , Imogen Ainsworth
– Pierre Bruno starts on the right wing for the first time at RWC2023.
– Tommaso Allan has not missed a kick at goal so far this tournament, slotting all 15 of his attempts.
– Federico Ruzza made 13 tackles against France in February and had 100% success rate.
-Simone Ferrari makes his 50th appearance for Italy and Luca Morisi will reach the same milestone if he is used from the bench.
– Ferrari starts at loose-head for the first time since 2019.
Player stats – France
19:06 , Imogen Ainsworth
– Charles Ollivon captains France for the 14th time this evening, his first time doing so since November 2022 when they played against Japan in Toulouse.
– Since Antoine Dupont made his international debut in 2017, this will be the third time France will have faced Italy without him.
– Matthieu Jalibert scored the winning try against Italy at this year’s Six Nations. He starts at fly-half this evening.
– If Damian Penaud scores a try, he will be the first Frenchman to score 13 tries in a calendar year. He is currently level with Phillipe Saint-André on 12 tries (1995).
Pre-match thoughts – Andrea Moretti
19:00 , Imogen Ainsworth
Italian scrum coach Andrea Moretti spoke about the loss to New Zealand and how they home to right the wrongs against France.
He said: “Once you have a setback, it’s always hard in the beginning, whatever happens to you. We were gutted because we let down, first, ourselves as players and staff, and all the people that were waiting to see what Italy could bring against the All Blacks.
“There is a moment where you have to feel shame but, like I said, then you have to bounce back; that’s what life teaches you and that’s what rugby is all about. So, we are lucky that we have another chance.
“For some of the players that won’t be involved this week, their last chance was against the All Blacks so we want to make sure that we also commit and play for those players that haven’t got the chance this week.”
“First thing we want to show is our identity, which is not the one we’ve shown against the All Blacks. Each one of us knows we have to show better of ourselves to the world and the first thing is showing that Italy is not that team – in terms of attitude, in terms of ability to handle the pressure. [We must] make sure that under pressure we are going to be composed and believe that what we are going to do are the things that are going to help us perform against France.”
Pre-match thoughts – Gaël Fickou
18:54 , Imogen Ainsworth
French centre Gaël Fickou shared his thoughts about facing Italy on the evening before the match. He said: “We can’t wait to get out on the pitch. Fifteen days is a long time, but it’s allowed us to recover and regenerate well for tomorrow’s match.
“It’s up to us to be ready. We’ve been working on it for a week now. But we’ll know the truth tomorrow. We’ve had a lot of trouble against them in the past, especially in the last game. That’s what we’ve been working on.”
“They play very well, despite their slip-up against New Zealand. We know they’ll be keen to make up for that. But we’ve been thinking about this match for a fortnight, and we’re determined to play a big game.
“They have a plenty of belief and character. You can hear it when they sing the anthem, you can see what wearing the jersey does to them. They’re going to push themselves hard against us because we’re neighbours, and a lot of their players play in our league or would like to. They know how to make things difficult for us.
“Italy make their opponents make mistakes. It’s up to us to do what we’ve been working on all week. We mustn’t give away any easy penalties, because they play a lot and can attack from a long way out. It’s up to us to respect that; we know what we need to focus on because we’ve studied these situations a lot during the week.”
Head to head
18:48 , Imogen Ainsworth
The two sides have met 47 times with France winning on 44 of those occasions. Despite facing each other multiple times at the Six Nations, they have only played once at a RWC. France won the only meeting between the two at a RWC 32-10 in 2015.
France are currently on the longest run of victories in this fixture since they won 18 tests in a row between 1937 and 1995. In the past six Tests, they have scored four or more tries past Italy. Their most recent score win was 29-24 at this year’s Six Nations, which was the closest scoreline in the past five matches between the two.
Les Bleus have only been beaten in France once by Italy in the 25 Tests played since 1937, and the win was recorded in 1997. 12 of Italy’s match day team today hadn’t been born when that win happened.
France vs Italy line-ups
18:42 , Mike Jones
France XV: 1 Cyril Baille, 2 Peato Mauvaka, 3 Uini Atonio; 4 Cameron Woki, 5 Thibaud Flament; 6 Anthony Jelonch, 7 Charles Ollivon (captain), 8 Gregory Alldritt; 9 Maxime Lucu, 10 Matthieu Jalibert; 11 Louis Bielle-Biarrey, 12 Jonathan Danty, 13 Gael Fickou, 14 Damian Penaud; 15 Thomas Ramos.
Replacements: 16 Pierre Bourgarit, 17 Reda Wardi, 18 Dorian Aldegheri, 19 Romain Taofifenua, 20 Francois Cros; 21 Baptiste Couilloud, 22 Yoram Moefana, 23 Melvyn Jaminet.
Italy XV: 1 Simone Ferrari, 2 Hame Faiva, 3 Pietro Ceccarelli; 4 Niccolo Cannone, 5 Federico Ruzza; 6 Sebastian Negri, 7 Michele Lamaro (captain), 8 Lorenzo Cannone; 9 Stephen Varney, 10 Tommaso Allan; 11 Montanna Ioane, 12 Paolo Garbisi, 13 Juan Ignacio Brex, 14 Pierre Bruno; 15 Ange Capuozzo.
Replacements: 16 Marco Manfredi, 17 Federico Zani, 18 Marco Riccioni, 19 David Sisi, 20 Manuel Zuliani; 21 Alessandro Fusco, 22 Luca Morisi, 23 Lorenzo Pani.
France vs Italy team news
18:36 , Mike Jones
France are without captain Antoine Dupont, though the noises are encouraging over the scrum half’s potential involvment as soon as quarter-final weekend. In his absence here, it is Dupont’s regular deputy Maxime Lucu at nine, while Charles Ollivon captains the side from the back row, where Gregory Alldritt is fit enough to make a return.
Hooker Julien Marchand remains absent so Peato Mauvaka continues in what looks like a first-choice French side, with 20-year-old breakthrough star Louis Bielle-Biarrey backed again on the wing ahead of Gabin Villiere.
It’s an all-new front row for Italy, with an injury ruling out Danilo Fischetti, Giacomo Nicotera recovering from a concussion and Marco Riccioni dropped to the bench. Simone Ferrari, Hame Faiva and Pietro Ceccarelli instead combine, with Niccolo Cannone brought back into the starting tight five.
There’s a reshuffle behind the scrum, with playmakers Tommaso Allan and Paolo Garbisi arranged, as they were against Uruguay, at ten and 12 and Ange Capuozzo at full-back. Pierre Bruno starts on the wing while Kieran Crowley opts for a five/three forwards-to-backs bench split.
How to watch France vs Italy
18:30 , Mike Jones
France vs Italy is due to kick off at 8pm BST on Friday 6 October at the OL Stadium in Lyon.
Viewers in the United Kingdom can watch the match live on ITV1, with coverage on the channel from 7.30pm BST. Registered users can stream the action for free via ITVX.
If you’re travelling abroad and want to watch major sporting events, you might need a VPN to unblock your streaming app. Our VPN roundup is here to help: get great deals on the best VPNs in the market. Viewers using a VPN need to make sure that they comply with any local regulations where they are and also with the terms of their service provider.
France vs Italy
17:54 , Mike Jones
Good evening and welcome to The Independent’s coverage of tonight’s Rugby World Cup action. Tournament hosts, France, are hoping to finish top of Pool A but will need to defeat this evening’s opponents Italy.
New Zealand’s bonus-point victory over Uruguay on Thursday moved the All Blacks above the tournament hosts in the pool, but a win of any kind would be enough for Fabien Galthié’s men to advance as pool winners.
Italy meanwhile are up against it. They’ll need to their fellow Six Nations opponents in their own back yard and come into the match low on confidence after a heavy loss to the All Blacks.
Can Kieran Crowley’s side pull off a shock win tonight?
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