Player Ratings: France

Yesterday at 12:55 PM

OPINION: Fabien Galthie's France rejuvenated their Six Nations title bid with a smashing 73-24 win over Italy to set up a tantalising March 8 showdown against defending champions Ireland in Dublin.

Embracing the dry and sunny Sunday afternoon conditions, the invite to create was eagerly snapped up by two sides who frequently moved the ball, and six tries in a compelling opening half-hour – four to the bonus point earning French – materialised.

Come the break, the French were 35-17 up and they handsomely built on this advantage in the second half to run out deserved 11 tries to three winners.

Aside from some leaky first-half defending in the centre on the pitch, this was the type of swashbuckling round-three performance Galthie would have wanted after the frustrating 25-26 loss to England had again highlighted how this star-studded French squad continues to at times produce less than the sum of its parts.

The axing of livewire winger Damian Penaud and flyhalf Mathieu Jalibert was evidence that the head coach's patience had snapped and a very satisfying response came against an in-form Italy, who were attempting to win three successive Six Nations home games for the first time.

Two early knock-ons in the Italian 22 followed by a try-cancelling forward pass from Thomas Ramos near the halfway line made for an imperfect start that was made worse by the concession which put the hosts 0-7 ahead.

However, France then showed their swagger and were excellent value for their five tries to two, 18-point interval advantage. Then when a sixth try was quickly engineered after the resumption, Galthie had the luxury of sending on six of his seven replacements forwards in one fell swoop on 49 minutes.

They didn't let up and the generous margin of victory was ultimately 49 points, a throwback to the 2023 Rugby World Cup when they hammered Italy 60-7 in Lyon.

Here are the France player ratings:

15. Leo Barre – 9/10
The recalled fullback was guilty of the first French handling error but he was generally a class act. Thought he had opened the scoring in 10 minutes but a forward pass denied him. However, got his reward just before the break with a neat finish and then added to that with a 65th-minute finish. There were other classy moments, such as a smart kick in behind to force a scrum-five and his offload near the sideline in the lead-up to the third French try.

14. Theo Attissogbe – 8.5
The two-try scorer versus the Welsh came back in for axed Penaud and quickly looked the part. His excellent decision-making and footwork in the creation of the disallowed Barre try was exquisite. So too his pass out of the tackle to give the scoring Louis Bielle-Biarrey an assist. Stayed tuned in – look at his 72nd-minute chase to snuff out an Italian breakaway and then his finish four minutes later.

13. Pierre-Louis Barassi – 4
This defensive weak link will have the Ireland attack licking its lips if he repeats this performance in Dublin. There were too many missed tackles in a frenetic opening half, an unreliability at its worst when badly exposed by the fast-stepping Tommaso Menoncello, who went all the all from deep to score. Dived in for his team's final try on 80 minutes, but that can't mask his flaky tackling.

12. Yoram Moefana – 8
It was his early first-half break that set the tempo for the all-action French attack and he continued to menace the Italian defence, producing a lovely afternoon's work that enabled others to thrive.

11. Louis Bielle-Biarrey – 7.5
Endured a quiet start but magically announced himself in the game when swapping wings and providing the assist for Antoine Dupont's first try. Wnet on to score himself with a sweet finish on 50 minutes in the first play after France made their six forwards substitution.

10. Thomas Ramos – 8
Shifted to out-half from full-back with Mathieu Jalibert dropped, he was a competent operator whose pass-focused display helped to give the French attack every incentive to strut their stuff. Played 68 minutes.

9. Antoine Dupont – 9.5
Wasn't fully 100 per cent perfect, as seen in a soft early fumble and a second one that could have ruled out his team's opening try if the ball had gone forwards and not back. However, he ran a clinic after that, toying with the Italians with various score-making assists and two excellently finished tries of his own with some trademark running. Then played the closing 12 minutes at out-half.

1. Jean-Baptiste Gros – 6
One of the six starting forwards who only played 49 minutes before France pulled the pin in their impression of the Springboks bomb squad tactic, limited scums and zero handling of the ball meant this was an afternoon where lineout lifting and clearing ruck were his only thing. He did that work with an appetite.

2. Peato Mauvaka – 7
Effective with his throwing, it was his try off a 21st-minute maul that put the French in front for the first time, a lead they were never to lose. Was one of the forwards who linked their attack play well in the traffic.

3. Uini Atonio – 5.5
With scrums at a premium and the French all about putting width on the ball, it was a tricky outing for the tighthead as there was way too much running for his liking to be done. Looked very slow getting around as his team's movement took its toll. Would have been glad to exit early.

4. Thibaud Flament – 7.5
One half of the freshened-up second row starting partnership, his defensive efforts were important in quelling the early Italian momentum that got the home Stadio Olimpico fans fired up in the frantic you-score, we-score part of the game. No stranger to working on the ball either.

5. Mickael Guillard – 7.5
We liked the cut of his jib from the opening seconds, racing down the pitch after the kick-off to win a holding-on penalty with just seconds gone. His power caught the eye across his 49 minutes, his 14th-minute try with two Italians hanging off him the highlight.

6. Francois Cros – 7.5
Topped his team's tackle count, this momentum-sapper was the only member of the starting French pack to play the full 80 minutes which was kudos for the level of consistency in his game.

7. Paul Boudehent – 7
It was his off-the-ball tackle that allowed Italy to go 10-7 in front on 18 minutes, but that error was no sign that a French crisis was in the offing. Just 12 minutes later, he was scoring his team's bonus-point try in the corner, a perfect riposte to the Italians closing to 17-21 with their second try just two minutes earlier.

8. Gregory Alldritt – 8
Another who gave up an early infringement that encouraged Italy, but he knuckled down. His tackling and healthy ball-carrying was a major reason why the French had galloped clear by the interval. Was then a 45th-minute try scorer before heading for a rest four minutes later. He will be a danger man for the Irish.

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