The closing match of this third day of the 2024 Six Nations Tournament will kick off this Sunday at 4 p.m. After Ireland in Marseille and before England in Lyon, this Latin derby was relocated to Lille, the Stade de France being unavailable due to work in preparation for the Olympic Games. The meeting is broadcast live on France 2 and can also be followed on lefigaro.fr, commented by Sébastien Vau. This France-Italy will be refereed by the Englishman Christophe Ridley, assisted on the sidelines by his compatriot Matthew Carley and the Welshman Craig Evans. The official in charge of video refereeing (TMO) will be Ian Tempest, also English.
The French XV remains on 14 victories in a row against Italy since the humiliation of February 3, 2013. Philippe Saint-André’s men lost 23-18 at the Flaminio Stadium. Two years earlier, same Roman punishment for those led by Marc Lièvremont, beaten 22-21. The only two defeats for the Blues against Squadra Azzurra in 23 matches in the Tournament.
Behind, Gonzalo Quesada chose to favor players playing in the Top 14. Thus the hinge made up of scrum half Lou Martin Page-Relo and neo-Toulonnais Paolo Garbisi at the opening. The Bayonnais Federico Mori will start in the center, another Lyonnais, Monty Ioane on a wing and, finally, the Toulouse Ange Capuozzo is established at the back
During his first mandate, Fabien Galthié offered (at least) a first selection to 48 players. There are now four more to have made their big debut. During this 2024 Tournament, Posolo Tuilagi (Perpignan) and Nolann Le Garrec (Racing 92) were launched during the match against Ireland. In Scotland, it was Alexandre Roumat (Stade Toulousain) who experienced this honor. Against Italy, if he comes off the bench (which is more than likely), it will be the turn of Toulonnais Esteban Abadie. A first at 26 years old for the third-row wing of the RCT.
The Pierre-Mauroy stadium in Villeneuve-d’Ascq, in the Lille suburbs, has the particularity of having a removable roof. A godsend for Fabien Galthié. “It had been raining for three days in Edinburgh, and it was difficult to be judicious with your hands when the ball was slipping. There, in Lille, we announce the roof is closed.” To stay sheltered from the wind and, above all, from the showers forecast in the North this Sunday.
Appearances can be deceiving. If the XV of France has conceded 54 points in two matches, only Italy doing worse (63 points), it presents the… best defense since the start of the Tournament. The Blues have an 89% tackle success rate (264 successful out of 301 attempts), the best percentage of the six nations…