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).
Wales 13-0 Ireland, 38 minutes
Ireland clear well but Angus Gardner rules the ball was taken back into the 22, and thus when the ball bounces on the touchline the line out will be deep in Ireland territory.
Wales 13-0 Ireland, 40 minutes
James Ryan knocks on into Ross Moriarty as he tackles Josh Navidi, and after Angus Gardner spots the replay on the big screen he reverses the scrum feed.
A final chance for Wales to launch an attack...
Wales 13-0 Ireland
Tadhg Furlong is pinged for collapsing at the scrum.
Gareth Anscombe will look to stretch the lead to 16 with the first half clock in the red.
PENALTY! Wales 16-0 Ireland (Gareth Anscombe penalty, 40 minutes)
Another solid strike, another three points to cap an excellent half for Wales.
As anticipated it's been physical and scrappy, the conditions forcing an error-strewn half of rugby that has rather suited Wales.
Other than losing George North early on, it has just about been perfect for the home side, managing the game brilliantly and taking their chances to score points.
Hadleigh Parkes' try in the earliest ebbs set the tone and gave the Welsh the perfect start, and Ireland have struggled to get back in it since. Gareth Anscombe has been spot on from the tee, and it's a sixteen point lead that on a day like this will be immensely difficult to overhaul.
That's one of the poorer halves that Ireland have produced since Joe Schmidt took charge, a fairly limp showing, the majority of their work coming in defence and a lack of inspiration coming in limited time with the ball. A dysfunctional line out and struggling scrum haven't helped matters either.
Ireland seem to have got on the wrong side of referee Angus Gardner and the penalties have allowed Wales to dominate the territory battle, and Ireland have been sucked into more niggly affairs as the half wore on as the frustration took toll and brains tired.
Might Josh Adams have seen yellow for his trip on Keith Earls? By the letter of the law, he certainly could have done.
This would be Ireland biggest ever comeback if they are able to overhaul the 16 points by which Wales are in the ascendency.
Insurmountable?
No half-time alterations. Johnny Sexton gets things back underway.
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