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PREVIEW: Six Nations hiding on the cards as stacked France line up Italy

France will be looking to lay down a marker when they take on Six Nations whipping boys Italy at the Stade de France on Sunday.

Gael Fickou of France - Six Nations
Image Copyright - Steve Haag Sports

France will be looking to lay down a marker when they take on neighbors and traditional Six Nations whipping boys Italy at the Stade de France on Sunday.

Two women looking excitedly at cellphone

France v Italy
Six Nations
Sunday 6 November
Stade de France
17:00

To Win Match
France N/A | Draw 33/1 | Italy 40/1

Handicap
France (-34.5) 9/10 | Italy (+34.5) 9/10 

The hosts enjoyed a very solid 2021 which saw them claim the runners-up accolade in the last edition of the Six Nations as well as claim a famous 40-25 win of the All Blacks at the tail end of the Autumn International Series.

They will be looking to go one better this year and end a Six Nations drought that stretches back to 2010. It’s a a streak they’ll be quietly confident of ending owing to their uber-talented squad with outrageous depth in every position.

Generally, the French would likely field a somewhat second-string side for a clash with minnows Italy, but as this is the first game of the tournament we can expect a stacked Les Bleus side to take to the field.

On this front, there was some really good news for the French with World Rugby’s Player of the Year Antoine Dupont and his halves partner Romain Ntamack both back in the squad having overcome a bout of COVID.

While France are gunning for Six Nations glory, the Italians are trying to break a tournament losing streak that extends back to 2015. They really struggled during last year’s edition of the competition and ended with an abysmal points differential of -184.

There’s some hope that Italy will perform a bit better this year with a few promising players coming through the ranks including youngsters Paolo Garbisi, and Federico Mori, while Monty Ioane has now been fully integrated into the squad having made his debut last year.

With 23 of the 33 players coming from the massively improved URC side Benetton, we could well see an Italian side taking its first steps toward being competitive on the Six Nations stage. Just think back to all the good the Jaguares Super Rugby franchise did for the Argentinian national team. 

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