The French XV faces Italy this Friday October 6 in the last match of Group A of this 2023 Rugby World Cup. A place in the quarter-finals is at stake.
If the Blues have been flawless since the start of this 2023 Rugby World Cup, they will have to give one last effort to reach the quarter-finals of the competition. On the eve of this meeting against Italy, the French are first in Group A with 13 points, three points more than their two pursuers, New Zealand and Italy. Several scenarios could be fatal to the French. If the New Zealanders beat Uruguay and France loses without a bonus then Fabien Galthié’s men would no longer be in the party for the knockout phase. But even with two bonus points, the French could exit the competition if the All Blacks and Squadra Azzurra win with the offensive bonus point. Fabien Galthié remains wary: “We face them every year. The last match in Rome was very difficult for us. They are an injured team (after their big defeat against New Zealand (96-17)), we think precisely that this is the biggest difficulty: injured Latins! They have made adjustments, they have players returning to their team. And they have everything to gain: we expect a very difficult match.”
Indeed, for their part, the Italians have everything to gain because they are in a delicate position before these last two matches in Group A in this 2023 Rugby World Cup. Placed in third position with as many points as New Zealand and three points behind France, Kieran Crowley’s players must absolutely win to hope to reach the quarter-finals of this World Cup. “We’re really going to give it a try. And in doing so, we risk exposing ourselves in certain areas. I’m not going to find myself after the match saying to myself ‘We should have’. I prefer to say to myself ‘We did it ‘”, declared the Italian coach.
The France – Italy match will begin this Friday, October 6 at 9 p.m. It will take place at Parc OL de Decines in Lyon.
TF1 will broadcast this meeting between France and Italy. Karl Dickson will be the referee of this last poster for Group A of this 2023 Rugby World Cup.
Two streaming broadcasts will be available to follow this France – Italy. Indeed, MyTF1 and MyCanal will also broadcast the decisive match for the quarter-finals.
The two coaches have already revealed their starting XV. Fabien Galthié, still deprived of Antoine Dupont, made two changes compared to the historic victory against Namibia (96-0) with the return of Maxime Lucu in place of Antoine Dupont while Grégory Alldritt replaces François Cros. Here is the French line-up: Ramos; Penaud, Fickou, Danty, Bielle-Biarrey; (o) Jalibert, (m) Lucu; Ollivon (cape), Alldritt, Jelonch; Flament, Woki; Atonio, Mauvaka, Baille.
Kieran Crowley has reshuffled his team after the slap against New Zealand (17-96). Ange Capuozzo starts at the back while Tommaso Allan will be present in the opening position. The composition of the Blue Team: Capuozzo; Bruno, Brex, Garbisi, Ioane; Allan, Varney; Lamaro (cap.), L. Cannone, Negri; Ruzza, Cannon; Ceccarelli, Faiva, Ferrari.
On sports betting sites, the French are the big favorites for this match as on Winamax where they are at 1.01, the draw is at 100 and the Italian victory is at 30. The odds are the same on Unibet.
