France Player Ratings v Italy

February 06, 2021
3663
Ultimate Rugby

Antoine Dupont turned in a star performance as France cruised to an emphatic 50-10 victory over Italy in their Six Nations opener.

France made light work of Italy to open their Six Nations account for 2021 with a 50-10 rout in Rome, picking up from where they left off last year.

Here is how we rated Fabien Galthie's men:

15. Brice Dulin - 8

Defensively he wasn't put under too much pressure but when tested he dealt with it with little fuss. He combined well with Villiere to score and showed off his handling to put Teddy Thomas over.

14. Teddy Thomas - 9

A threat every single time he touched the ball. He made an incredible run to set up Dupont for the scrumhalf's try before scoring two of his own.

13. Arthur Vincent - 8

Quietly brilliant for France. Made a massive 16 tackles missing one. Scored a try and made over 70 running metres beating four defenders.

12. Gaël Fickou - 7

Solid outing from Fickou. He shifted the ball on made a few carries and finished off his try well from the Dupont kick.

11. Gabin Villière - 8

Set the tone early on as he won a penalty with France under the cosh which led to a try for Cretin. Grabbed a try assist and was busy around the park piling into rucks and came up with a pilfer or two as well.

10. Matthieu Jalibert - 7.5

Kicked well and linked up with his outside backs brilliantly. Set a nice try for Teddy Thomas before going off and slotted in seamlessly with Antoine Dupont.

9. Antoine Dupont - 9.5

Played an hour but what an hour it was. Four try assists, equalling the Six Nations record set by Freddie Michalak, and he scored one for himself.

Antoine Dupont v Italy 🤯

6⃣0⃣ Minutes ⏰
0⃣6⃣ Tackles
3⃣8⃣ Passes 🖐️
0⃣2⃣ Offloads👌
0⃣9⃣ Kicks 👟
0⃣3⃣ Carries 🏃‍♂️
0⃣2⃣ Defenders beaten ⚡️
5⃣2⃣ Running metres 🔥
0⃣4⃣ Try Assists 🅰️
0⃣1⃣ Try 🏉
🏅 Man of the match#GuinnessSixNations #ITAvFRA pic.twitter.com/6PSo3EL06f

— Ultimate Rugby (@ultimaterugby) February 6, 2021

1. Cyril Baille - 7

Won a penalty from the first scrum of the game. Made his tackles and carried strongly.

2. Julien Marchand - 7

Accurate in the set pieces and made his mark on defence.

3. Mohamed Haouas - 7

Made more tackles than any other front-rower. Excellent in the set pieces and won a turnover.

4. Bernard Le Roux - 7

Along with Willemse, Le Roux led from the front on defence shooting out to make hard hits and was regularly assisting in driving players backwards.

5. Paul Willemse - 7.5

Topped the tackle count after a hour. Hit hard, carried just as well and took the fight to Italy.

6. Dylan Cretin - 6

Strong at the lineout, made his tackles and finished his try off nicely but was less impactful as his fellow back rowers.

7. Charles Ollivon (c) -7

Top tackler in the game and while he may have wanted to get more touches on attack, he did his job and did it well.

8. Grégory Alldritt - 7.5

Hardly looked off the pace. Was physically brilliant, smashed players backwards, got over the ball well and carried with grit for 58 minutes.

Replacements:

16. Pierre Bourgarit - 6: Picked up where Marchand left off.

17. Jean-Baptiste Gros - 6: Solid impact without making a major mark.

18. Dorian Aldegheri - 5: Didn't put a foot wrong but could have filled in more.

19. Romain Taofifenua - 6: Picked off from where Willemse left off. Made his tackles and ran the lineout nicely.

20. Anthony Jelonch - 6: Made strong carries in Alldritt's place and was solid for over 20 minutes.

21. Baptiste Serin - 6.5: Not as impactful as Dupont, but that's not his fault. Saw his side to victory without losing tempo and was excellent with his passing and kicking.

22. Louis Carbonel - 5: Missed his shot at goal, made good metres but did have a moment of madness where he spilled the ball.

23. Damian Penaud - 5: Hardly saw the ball but did make three interventions on defence.