Italy vs France rugby LIVE: Damian Penaud try seals underwhelming victory for Les Bleus against winless Italy
Re-live the action from the final day of the Six Nations championship
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Your support makes all the difference.Re-live the latest updates live from Six Nations Grand Slam Saturday as Italy suffered a record-stretching 22nd straight defeat against France.
Following two early penalties from Tommaso Allan, France hit back to take the lead through a converted try from Antoine Dupont, with Romain Ntamack adding a further three points before the break.
The visitors stretched their lead afterwards as wing Yoan Huget scored to give them breathing space, but Italy clawed their way back into the match when scrum-half Tito Tebaldi went over for a try. Italy then looked to have scored a second try when debutant Marco Zanon went over, but Damian Penaud wisely dislodged the ball out of his hands and followed up by scoring a well-executed try minutes later to seal the win. Re-live the live action below.
When is the match?
Italy vs France takes place on Saturday 16 March at the Stadio Olimpico.
What time does it start?
The match is scheduled to kick-off at 12:30pm GMT (1.30pm CET).
Where can I watch it?
Live coverage is on ITV from midday.
Teams
Italy: J Hayward (Benetton); E Padovani (Zebre), M Zanon (Benetton), L Morisi (Benetton), A Esposito (Benetton); T Allan (Benetton), T Tebaldi (Benetton); A Lovotti (Zebre), L Ghiraldini (Toulouse), T Pasquali (Benetton), D Sisi (Zebre), F Ruzza (Benetton), A Steyn (Benetton), J Polledri (Gloucester), S Parisse (Stade Francais, capt).
Replacements: L Bigi (Benetton), C Traore (Benetton), S Ferrari (Benetton), A Zanni (Benetton), S Negri (Benetton), G Palazzani (Zebre), I McKinley (Benetton), L Sperandio (Benetton).
France: M Medard (Toulouse); D Penaud (Clermont Auvergne), M Bastareaud (Toulon), W Fofana (Clermont Auvergne), Y Huget (Toulouse); R Ntamack (Toulouse), A Dupont (Toulouse); E Falgoux (Clermont Auvergne), G Guirado (Toulon, capt), D Bamba (Brive), F Lambey (Lyon), P Willemse (Montpellier), G Alldritt (La Rochelle), Y Camara (Montpellier), L Picamoles (Montpellier).
Replacements: C Chat (Racing 92), D Priso (La Rochelle), D Aldegheri (Toulouse), P Gabrillagues (Stade Francais), A Iturria (Clermont Auvergne), B Serin (Bordeax-Begles), C Lopez (Clermont Auvergne), T Ramos (Toulouse).
Referee: Matt Carley (England).
Assistant referees: Nigel Owens (Wales) and Andrew Brace (Ireland).
Italy 3-0 France, 11 minutes
Oh yes!
That's a scrum and a half.
Tiziano Pasquali gets in on to Guilhem Guirado and the power comes through from the tighthead, forcing the French scrum to commit a multitude of offences.
Tommaso Allan opts for goal once more.
PENALTY! Italy 6-0 France (Tommaso Allan penalty, 12 minutes)
Knocked over with little effort. A strong base for Italy to build from.
Italy 6-0 France, 13 minutes
Jayden Hayward watches a bouncing ball very closely as it threatens to hop the wrong side of the line in the left-hand corner, but it eventually hops into his hands and Tito Tebaldi pumps up to near halfway.
Italy 6-0 France, 14 minutes
Antoine Dupont's box is well won by Damian Penaud swatting backwards with his right hands, but it fortuitously finds Italian hands and the hosts will reload.
Italy 6-0 France, 15 minutes
We descend into a game of kick tennis.
The French slightly overcook there final effort, and Italy will dot down for the 22 dropout.
TRY! Italy 6-7 France (Antoine Dupont, 16 minutes)
Loose chase, and France capitalise with a lovely score!
Maxime Medard takes the drop out and spots a gap between a forward and a back, getting to the outside shoulder, slipping his hands free and feeding Damian Penaud racing away from Angelo Esposito.
Penaud finds the angle to cut inside and draw the final man, Antoine Dupont with a classic scrum-half support line to dot down under the posts.
Romain Ntamack converts.
Italy 6-7 France, 18 minutes
France showed their potency on the counter against Scotland and it was smart play from Medard, Sergio Parisse the player targeted, the great Italian captain just unable to claw Medard back before the Toulouse full back got the offload away.
Talking of captains, Guilhem Guirado is going off in pain, perhaps a rib issue from the earlier incident.
Camille Chat is an all-action replacement.
Italy 6-7 France, 19 minutes
Impact from Chat at the scrum, France driving the Italians off their own ball, a mark of intent after the hosts' initial ascendency.
Italy's defence is thus always scrambling and Andrea Lovotti fails to roll away after making a tackle.
Romain Ntamack with a chance to extend the French lead.
PENALTY! Italy 6-10 France (Romain Ntamack penalty, 20 minutes)
Bisects the posts. A good start from the tee for Ntamack, though neither kick has been tough.
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