Six Nations 2015: Italy vs France Player Ratings

ITALY

15. Luke McLean: 6
Never given much of a sniff in attack. Did well to take down Lopez close to his own line but would like to see more ball come his way.

14. Leonardo Sarto: 5
Got in a twist on the wrong wing for the Maestri try and ended up tackling no-one. Not given many chances to stretch his legs.

13. Luca Morisi: 6
Reasonable championship to date but picked up a head injury and came off after 37 minutes. His spark was missed in the second half.

12. Andrea Masi: 6
Hugely physical player and showed it with a shuddering hit on Guirado in the lead up to Maestri’s try. Never let anything by him but didn’t offer much in attack.

11. Giovambattista Venditti: 5
Little impact on the game as it wasn’t a day for wingers. Has more to him than was on show.

10. Tommaso Alla: 5
Late inclusion to the side and only lasted thirteen minutes before he surrendered to a groin injury, having missed an early penalty.

9. Edoardo Gori: 5
Not his finest game in an otherwise reasonable campaign. Isn’t being helped by the uncertainty at out-half and was caught a number of times in possession.

8. Sergio Parisse: 6
Tried to carry the weight of expectation on his shoulders but couldn’t drag his team along with him. Never reached his high standards and an injury in the 75th minute could rule him out of this weekend.

7. Samuela Vunisa: 6
Popped up all over the field and made himself a menace at the breakdown. Gave away too many penalties though but should get another crack this weekend.

6. Francesco Minto: 7
Was like a man possessed in defence and chalked up sixteen tackles, missing none. Italy’s best performer with a good showing in the line-out also.

5. Joshua Furno: 6
Came into this one on the back of his try-scoring heroics in Murrayfield. Didn’t reach those heights and was turned over on three occasions. Showed some soft hands at times.

4. George Fabio Biagi: 6
Out shone his second row partner by simply making fewer errors. Little to say other than needs to improve before the game against Wales.

3. Dario Chistolini: 5
Role in this side is to hold up the scrum, but he was pinged three times by referee Doyle, before heading to the sideline at 50 minutes.

2. Leonardo Ghiraldini: 6
Threw into a hugely successful lineout and there were a high number of them. Gave away a few penalties and guilty of a couple of handling errors.

1. Matias Aguero: 6
Only lasted until the 32nd minute when injury forced him off. No errors in those 32 minutes meant he was better than most.

Replacements: 5
Orquera couldn’t repeat his heroics from two years ago when he single handedly won the game for Italy. Showed that his time in the Italian team should come to an end. The other substitutes could have little bearing on the result as France were slightly better than an awful Italian team.

FRANCE

15. Scott Spedding: 7
Saint-Andre raised a few eyebrows by including him but he did make a superb break from his own half in the lead up to the Maestri try. Has a cannon of a right boot but real pace and flair are lacking.

14. Yoann Huget: 6
Held onto possession long enough before giving the try scoring pass for Maestri to dot down in the corner. Other than that it was a quiet performance.

13. Gaël Fickou: 6
Given little opportunity to show his unquestionable class in attack. Fronted up in defence like his centre partner. Expect more from the duo next week.

12. Maxime Mermoz: 6
Showed physicality in defence and hit everything that came at him. Suffered from a lack of attacking impetuous from his side.

11. Noa Nakaitaci: 6
His 60 metre sprint in the first half down the left wing was the highlight of his debut. Starved of attacking opportunities but was very industrious in defence.

10. Camille Lopez: 6
Scored two penalties before a knock late in the half forced him to hand the duties over to Spedding. Didn’t reappear after half time but was ok in parts.

9. Sébastian Tillous-Borde: 5
Not on the same level as Parra and leaves a lot to be desired with his game management. Had a difficult day with charge downs and crooked feeds in the scrum.

8. Loann Goujon: 6
Justified his selection ahead of the previously poor Damien Chouly. Offered a real option in attack and made a number of clean breaks.

7. Bernard le Roux: 5
Looked a bit out of sorts throughout and fell foul of the whistle of JP Doyle on a number of occasions. Still waiting for a big performance from him in blue.

6. Thierry Dusautoir: 8
A Man of the Match performance from the ever industrious captain. Topped the tackle and carries charts for his team and his all round game was good.

5. Yoann Maestri: 6
Scored his first international try for Les Bleus with a pretty straightforward run in in the corner. Made himself a nuisance at the breakdown and imposed his physicality well.

4. Alexandre Flanquart: 6
Conceded two penalties throughout the game but was solid in the lineout. Topped the turnover stats for his side.

3 Nicolas Mas: 5
His return to the side was pretty underwhelming like the others in the front row. Showed little else besides scrummaging before being hauled off on 50 mins.

2. Guilhem Guirado: 6
A willing runner in open play and put in a physical performance. Has been one of the better players in the French side over the last few weeks but wasn’t at that level this time.

1. Eddy Ben Arous: 6
Failed to show the type of breakdown play that has him at up the top of the turnovers table for the competition. Strong in the scrum but pretty anonymous in the loose.

Replacements: 7
The French bench had a far greater impact on the game than that of the Italians. Jules Plisson put in an assured performance when he replaced Lopez and was accurate with the boot. Mathieu Bastareaud crossed for a late try when he barrelled over underneath the posts and did well to get the ball down. Strength in depth for the French was key, as Italy couldn’t live with the class off their bench.

By Hugh Foyle (@hfoyle)

Photo by: Patrick Khachfe / Onside Images