France v Italy Prediction, Preview & Odds – Six Nations

We have a France v Italy prediction for you plus a breakdown of the betting odds, team news and matchups ahead of Sunday’s Six Nations match.

How To Watch France v Italy

When is France v Italy

Kick-off is scheduled for 3.00 pm on Sunday, February 25th.

TV Channel

In Ireland, you can watch the game on RTÉ2 with pre-match coverage from 2.30 pm.

France v Italy will also be broadcast on ITV1 in the UK with pre-match build-up from 2.15 pm.

Live Stream

In Ireland, you can livestream the game on RTÉ Player.

Those in the UK can stream France v Italy on ITVX.

Who are the officiating team?

Referee: Christophe Ridley (RFU)

Assistant Referees: Matthew Carley (RFU), Craig Evans (WRU)

TMO: Ian Tempest (RFU)

Where is France v Italy?

Decathlon Arena, Lille

France v Italy Odds

France are 1/100 favourites to beat Italy and secure their second victory of the Six Nations per the latest rugby odds at BoyleSports.

Italy are 20/1 to cause a Six Nations shock while the draw is priced up at 100/1.

Handicap Betting

France: -27 @ 10/11

Italy: +27 @ 10/11

Handicap Draw: -27 @ 18/1

Click Below For Our Live France v Italy Odds

Team News

France Team News

Fabien Galthie has released six players back to their clubs ahead of their game against Italy, 3 forwards and 3 backs.

Agen prop Alex Burin, Bordeaux-Bègles No 8 Marko Gazzotti and Toulon lock Matthias Halagahu are the 3 forwards, while Bordeaux-Bègles centre Nicolas Depoortere, Pau centre Emilien Gailleton and Toulouse wing Matthis Lebel are the 3 backs.

19-year-old lock Posolo Tuilagi is in line to make his first start for France this weekend.

Italy Team News

Italy have several issues with back-row choices Lorenzo Cannone, Sebastian Negri and Edoardo Iachizzi all sidelined.

France v Italy Weather Forecast

Wet conditions could be in store for Sunday with 10mm of rain forecast, 3 mm of rain before the game and roughly 2 mm of rain during the match.

Temperature

The temperature is predicted to be about 7°C throughout the game.

Wind

On Saturday there is expected to be a gentle breeze with wind speeds that will be averaging 16 km/h.

Rain

On Saturday there is expected to be 2 mm of rainfall during the game.

France v Italy Preview

France’s Form

Head Coach Fabien Galthié has turned around French fortunes since being appointed in 2019 including a Grand Slam success during the 2022 Six Nations. At the Rugby World Cup, France topped their pool which included an impressive 27-13 victory against New Zealand in the tournament’s opening game. However, heartbreak came at the Quarter-Final stage when they narrowly lost out 28-29 to eventual winners South Africa.

Plenty were tipping France for flowers in this tournament following their disappointment at the Rugby World Cup. Despite this, they were defeated at home by Ireland 17-38 on the opening night which was a crushing blow to their title aspirations.

France returned to winning ways during the Round 2 fixtures with a narrow 16-20 victory against Scotland following a flurry of ten points in the last eleven minutes of the match.

Italy’s Form

Italy came into this tournament following their Pool A elimination at the Rugby World Cup, despite opening victories 52-8 against Namibia and 38-17 against Uruguay. They lost 97-17 against New Zealand and 60-7 to France.

Italy’s 2024 Six Nations campaign commenced in a spirited fashion (particularly in the first half) against England to earn a losing Bonus Point in a 24-27 defeat. Had it not been for a quiet period at the start of the 2nd half, they potentially could have beaten England for the first time. However, their latest result was less than promising with a rotated Irish side whitewashing them 36-0.

France Attack v Italy Defence

France are known for their free-flowing rugby, but have been less than impressive in this Six Nations putting up 17 points against Ireland through a Penaud and Gabrillagues try along with 7 points from Ramos from the kicking tee.

Against Scotland, they again scored 2 tries. This time through Fickou and Bielle-Biarrey and 10 points from the boot of Ramos.

Italy are not the strongest defensive force, with them conceding 27 points including 2 tries, 1 from Daly and 1 from Mitchell. However, it was their penalty count which let them down with Ford dispatching 5/5. They were then whitewashed 36-0 against Ireland where they conceded 6 tries.

Italy Attack v France Defence

Italy scored 3 tries against England, through Garbisi, Allan and Loane with their other scores coming with Allan making 2/2 conversions, Garbisi making 1/1 and Allan dispatching 1/2 penalties. However, they were rendered scoreless most recently by Ireland.

France conceded 38 points against Ireland including 5 tries, it should be noted that their job was made more difficult following the yellow card to Paul Willemse in the 7th minute and his subsequent red card in the 30th minute.

They conceded 16 points against Scotland including 1 try from White and Russell dispatching 3/3 penalties.

France v Italy Rugby Head-To-Head

All-Time Head-To-Head Record

France and Italy have played each other at rugby union a total of 48 matches, with France winning 45 times, Italy winning 3 times, and no matches drawn.

Since 2007, the winner of the meeting between the teams in the Six Nations Tournament has received the Giuseppe Garibaldi Trophy.

Head-To-Head Results Last Five Matches

2023: France won 60-7 in Parc Olympique Lyonnais
2023: France won 24-29 in Stadio Olimpico Stadium
2022: France won 37-10 in Stade de France Stadium
2021: France won 10-50 in Stadio Olimpico Stadium
2020: France won 36-5 in Stade de France Stadium

Trends

France has won 14 of the last 15 matches against Italy with the Italians last winning in Rome 23-18 back in 2013.

Key Players

Maxime Lucu – France

Lucu had a tough outing against Ireland in their opening fixture, despite some solid clearance kicking. He was replaced in the 2nd half showing that the coaches weren’t overly enamoured by his performance. He should get the nod for Scotland, but his position in the Starting 15 for the remainder of the tournament could depend on his next performance.

Against Scotland, he had an improved performance but didn’t control the game in the way that missing talisman Dupont would likely have done. His kicking was decent though and this game against Italy could be a great confidence builder.

Alessandro Izekor – Italy

The Italian flanker has already been highly spoken about by Italian legend Sergio Parisse, the uncapped man has been described as a “colossus of a back row who stands 6 ‘5″ tall and weighs well over 17 stones”, by Rugby Pass. The man who plays his club rugby with Benetton Treviso will be out to make a big name for himself against the English.

Against Ireland, he was handed his first start of the tournament and despite Italy’s overall poor performance, he was one of only two forwards who were kept on for the full 80 minutes.

France v Italy Prediction & Best Bet

Prediction: France 40-10 Italy

Plenty predicted France to have been leading Grand Slam favourites, but seem to be suffering from a World Cup hangover and the loss of their captain Dupont with less than convincing performances from their opening two games.

Italy were very unlucky not to have gotten something from their first game against England, but were then comfortably beaten by Ireland so it’s very difficult to see where they stand in their progression.

France may be out of sorts, but should comfortably win this game.

Best Bet: France to Win Both Halves by 14 Points Or More @ 11/4

Click Below For Our Live France v Italy Odds

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