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Sebastian Negri shared his excitement about facing France. <\/p>\n
He said: \u201cExcited. I think it\u2019s been a really good week after a difficult performance against New Zealand. We\u2019ve kept positive, we\u2019ve dusted ourselves off and the boys are really excited to showcase what this team is about. I can\u2019t wait.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve forgotten about New Zealand. We had a short review on it but our immediate focus has been on France. It\u2019s another massive opportunity for us. We are not thinking about what\u2019s happened; we are thinking about the future and what we can control, and that starts tomorrow at 9:00 pm.\u201d<\/p>\n
– Pierre Bruno starts on the right wing for the first time at RWC2023.<\/p>\n
– Tommaso Allan has not missed a kick at goal so far this tournament, slotting all 15 of his attempts.<\/p>\n
– Federico Ruzza made 13 tackles against France in February and had 100% success rate. <\/p>\n
-Simone Ferrari makes his 50th appearance for Italy and Luca Morisi will reach the same milestone if he is used from the bench. <\/p>\n
– Ferrari starts at loose-head for the first time since 2019. <\/p>\n
– Charles Ollivon captains France for the 14th time this evening, his first time doing so since November 2022 when they played against Japan in Toulouse.<\/p>\n
– Since Antoine Dupont made his international debut in 2017, this will be the third time France will have faced Italy without him.<\/p>\n
– Matthieu Jalibert scored the winning try against Italy at this year\u2019s Six Nations. He starts at fly-half this evening. <\/p>\n
– If Damian Penaud scores a try, he will be the first Frenchman to score 13 tries in a calendar year. He is currently level with Phillipe Saint-Andr\u00e9 on 12 tries (1995). <\/p>\n
Italian scrum coach Andrea Moretti spoke about the loss to New Zealand and how they home to right the wrongs against France. <\/p>\n
He said: \u201cOnce you have a setback, it\u2019s always hard in the beginning, whatever happens to you. We were gutted because we let down, first, ourselves as players and staff, and all the people that were waiting to see what Italy could bring against the All Blacks.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is a moment where you have to feel shame but, like I said, then you have to bounce back; that\u2019s what life teaches you and that\u2019s what rugby is all about. So, we are lucky that we have another chance.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor some of the players that won\u2019t be involved this week, their last chance was against the All Blacks so we want to make sure that we also commit and play for those players that haven\u2019t got the chance this week.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cFirst thing we want to show is our identity, which is not the one we\u2019ve shown against the All Blacks. Each one of us knows we have to show better of ourselves to the world and the first thing is showing that Italy is not that team – in terms of attitude, in terms of ability to handle the pressure. [We must] make sure that under pressure we are going to be composed and believe that what we are going to do are the things that are going to help us perform against France.\u201d<\/p>\n
French centre Ga\u00ebl Fickou shared his thoughts about facing Italy on the evening before the match. He said: “We can\u2019t wait to get out on the pitch. Fifteen days is a long time, but it\u2019s allowed us to recover and regenerate well for tomorrow\u2019s match.<\/p>\n
“It\u2019s up to us to be ready. We\u2019ve been working on it for a week now. But we\u2019ll know the truth tomorrow. We\u2019ve had a lot of trouble against them in the past, especially in the last game. That\u2019s what we\u2019ve been working on.”<\/p>\n
\u201cThey play very well, despite their slip-up against New Zealand. We know they\u2019ll be keen to make up for that. But we\u2019ve been thinking about this match for a fortnight, and we\u2019re determined to play a big game.<\/p>\n
“They have a plenty of belief and character. You can hear it when they sing the anthem, you can see what wearing the jersey does to them. They\u2019re going to push themselves hard against us because we’re neighbours, and a lot of their players play in our league or would like to. They know how to make things difficult for us.<\/p>\n
“Italy make their opponents make mistakes. It\u2019s up to us to do what we\u2019ve been working on all week. We mustn\u2019t give away any easy penalties, because they play a lot and can attack from a long way out. It\u2019s up to us to respect that; we know what we need to focus on because we\u2019ve studied these situations a lot during the week.”<\/p>\n
The two sides have met 47 times with France winning on 44 of those occasions. Despite facing each other multiple times at the Six Nations, they have only played once at a RWC. France won the only meeting between the two at a RWC 32-10 in 2015.<\/p>\n
France are currently on the longest run of victories in this fixture since they won 18 tests in a row between 1937 and 1995. In the past six Tests, they have scored four or more tries past Italy. Their most recent score win was 29-24 at this year\u2019s Six Nations, which was the closest scoreline in the past five matches between the two. <\/p>\n
Les Bleus have only been beaten in France once by Italy in the 25 Tests played since 1937, and the win was recorded in 1997. 12 of Italy\u2019s match day team today hadn\u2019t been born when that win happened. <\/p>\n
France XV: <\/strong>1 Cyril Baille, 2 Peato Mauvaka, 3 Uini Atonio; 4 Cameron Woki, 5 Thibaud Flament; 6 Anthony Jelonch, 7 Charles Ollivon (captain), 8 Gregory Alldritt; 9 Maxime Lucu, 10 Matthieu Jalibert; 11 Louis Bielle-Biarrey, 12 Jonathan Danty, 13 Gael Fickou, 14 Damian Penaud; 15 Thomas Ramos.<\/p>\n Replacements: 16 Pierre Bourgarit, 17 Reda Wardi, 18 Dorian Aldegheri, 19 Romain Taofifenua, 20 Francois Cros; 21 Baptiste Couilloud, 22 Yoram Moefana, 23 Melvyn Jaminet.<\/em><\/p>\n Italy XV: <\/strong>1 Simone Ferrari, 2 Hame Faiva, 3 Pietro Ceccarelli; 4 Niccolo Cannone, 5 Federico Ruzza; 6 Sebastian Negri, 7 Michele Lamaro (captain), 8 Lorenzo Cannone; 9 Stephen Varney, 10 Tommaso Allan; 11 Montanna Ioane, 12 Paolo Garbisi, 13 Juan Ignacio Brex, 14 Pierre Bruno; 15 Ange Capuozzo.<\/p>\n Replacements: 16 Marco Manfredi, 17 Federico Zani, 18 Marco Riccioni, 19 David Sisi, 20 Manuel Zuliani; 21 Alessandro Fusco, 22 Luca Morisi, 23 Lorenzo Pani.<\/em><\/p>\n France are without captain Antoine Dupont, though the noises are encouraging over the scrum half\u2019s potential involvment as soon as quarter-final weekend. In his absence here, it is Dupont\u2019s regular deputy Maxime Lucu at nine, while Charles Ollivon captains the side from the back row, where Gregory Alldritt is fit enough to make a return.<\/p>\n Hooker Julien Marchand remains absent so Peato Mauvaka continues in what looks like a first-choice French side, with 20-year-old breakthrough star Louis Bielle-Biarrey backed again on the wing ahead of Gabin Villiere.<\/p>\n It\u2019s an all-new front row for Italy, with an injury ruling out Danilo Fischetti, Giacomo Nicotera recovering from a concussion and Marco Riccioni dropped to the bench. Simone Ferrari, Hame Faiva and Pietro Ceccarelli instead combine, with Niccolo Cannone brought back into the starting tight five.<\/p>\n There\u2019s a reshuffle behind the scrum, with playmakers Tommaso Allan and Paolo Garbisi arranged, as they were against Uruguay, at ten and 12 and Ange Capuozzo at full-back. Pierre Bruno starts on the wing while Kieran Crowley opts for a five\/three forwards-to-backs bench split.<\/p>\n France vs Italy is due to kick off at 8pm BST on Friday 6 October at the OL Stadium in Lyon.<\/p>\n Viewers in the United Kingdom can watch the match live on ITV1, with coverage on the channel from 7.30pm BST. Registered users can stream the action for free via ITVX.<\/p>\n If you\u2019re travelling abroad and want to watch major sporting events, you might need a VPN to unblock your streaming app. Our VPN roundup is here to help: get great deals on the <\/em>best VPNs in the market.<\/em> Viewers using a VPN need to make sure that they comply with any local regulations where they are and also with the terms of their service provider.<\/em><\/p>\nFrance vs Italy team news<\/h3>\n
How to watch France vs Italy<\/h3>\n
France vs Italy<\/h3>\n