Record-breaking France shift focus to decisive Six Nations clash with Ireland
Sign up now: Get the biggest sports news in your inbox
France scrum-half Antoine Dupont running with the ball to score one of his two tries during his team's 73-24 Six Nations international rugby union win over Italy.
PHOTO: AFP
ROME – After a record-breaking afternoon for France against Italy in Rome on Feb 23, focus quickly shifted to their next Six Nations meeting against Ireland, with captain Antoine Dupont describing it as a potential tournament decider.
France will travel to Dublin to take on the unbeaten Irish in their next clash on March 8, having taken a bonus-point victory in Rome with a massive 73-24 victory over the Italians, the biggest scoreline for France in the Six Nations.
“When we looked at the fixtures when they came out, we suspected that the game against Ireland would be a crucial match of the competition,” Dupont told reporters at the Stadio Olimpico.
“We had little doubt that Ireland would rack up the victories and the match will be super important... We will have to play our best possible match.”
France trail Ireland by three points in the standings, having beaten Wales 43-0 in their opening game, and Italy on Feb 23, but losing to England by a point a fortnight ago.
“When there are poor performances like that, there are two ways to react,” Dupont said of the Twickenham defeat.
“Either you lower your head or you fight back. We got back to work, we focused on the intensity and the state of mind that we wanted to be in.
“We talked about it a lot during the week, especially about the start of game, which was good, even if we didn’t score straight away. We were rigorous and it paid off.”
Italy were first to score a try in the Feb 23 clash but France bounced back to score 11 of their own, two of them for Man-of-the-Match Dupont.
The rest came from Mickael Guillard, Peato Mauvaka, Paul Boudehent, Gregory Alldritt, Louis Bielle-Biarrey, Theo Attissogbe, Pierre-Louis Barassi and Leo Barre (two).
Italy crossed the line via Tommaso Menoncello, Juan Ignacio Brex and Paolo Garbisi.
The clash saw 14 tries in total for a new Six Nations record. France’s 11 tries easily beat their previous best of seven in a Six Nations clash.
Said Italy coach Gonzalo Quesada: “It’s very difficult when France play like that, when they produce that kind of rugby, but I don’t think that the score reflects the difference between our two teams.
“We defended well for 20 minutes but, when all you do is defend, it’s difficult, especially when France plays like that and when Antoine Dupont is having that kind of day... The way they play is magnificent.”
Like Dupont, France coach Fabien Galthie is looking forward to doing battle with the Irish.
“We are fuelled by everything we go through, when we succeed and when we fail. In any case, we have a big challenge waiting for us in Dublin,” he said. REUTERS, AFP
