Italy vs France LIVE rugby: Latest build-up and updates from Six Nations ahead of continental clash

Giacomo Nicotera says that Italy are intent on ensuring that their win over Wales is not the sole success of the campaign, insisting that the Azzurri have to beat a better team to show their progress.

“We can’t say ‘we’ve beaten Wales, that’s it.’ The objective is to beat a team that is better than Wales,” Nicotera stressed.

“Last year was great, the best Six Nations Italy has had, and we want to improve on it.

“We know if we don’t keep improving then everyone will say last year was a fluke, or coincidence. We are on the right path and growing lots.”

A seven/one bench? It’s very Rassie Erasmus from Fabien Galthie, trusting in the versatility of his backs to cover if injury strikes and giving his bench real punch.

Fabien Galthie swings the selection scythe after France’s Twickenham misstep, with fly half Matthieu Jalibert and wing Damian Penaud eye-catching omissions. Thomas Ramos wears 10 as Leo Barre and Theo Attissogbe come in to the back three, while there is a new lock combination: a fit-again Thibaud Flament unites with Mickael Guillard in the absence of an ill Emmanuel Meafou.

The bench is bulky, even by French standards, as Galthie selects a Springbok-style seven forwards/one back bench split.

France XV: 1 Jean-Baptiste Gros, 2 Peato Mauvaka, 3 Uini Atonio; 4 Thibaud Flament, 5 Mickael Guillard; 6 Francois Cros, 7 Paul Boudehent, 8 Gregory Alldritt; 9 Antoine Dupont, 10 Thomas Ramos; 11 Louis Bielle-Biarrey, 12 Yoram Moefana, 13 Pierre-Louis Barassi, 14 Theo Attissogbe; 15 Leo Barre.

Replacements: 16 Julien Marchand, 17 Cyrill Baille, 18 Dorian Aldegheri, 19 Romain Taofifenua, 20 Alexandre Roumat, 21 Oscar Jegou, 22 Anthony Jelonch; 23 Maxime Lucu.

Monty Ioane is ruled out with injury for Italy, with Simone Gesi brought in on the wing. Gianmarco Lucchesi and Giacomo Nicotera swap spots in the hooker pecking order in the only other change to the starting side, but Mirco Spagnolo, Giosue Zilocchi and Riccardo Favretto are all brought on to the bench.

Italy XV: 1 Danilo Fischetti, 2 Gianmarco Lucchesi, 3 Simone Ferrari; 4 Niccolo Cannone, 5 Federico Ruzza; 6 Sebastian Negri, 7 Michele Lamaro (capt.), 8 Lorenzo Cannone; 9 Martin Page-Relo, 10 Paolo Garbisi; 11 Simone Gesi, 12 Tommaso Menoncello, 13 Juan Ignacio Brex, 14 Ange Capuozzo; 15 Tommaso Allan.

Replacements: 16 Giacomo Nicotera, 17 Mirco Spagnolo, 18 Giosue Zilocchi, 19 Riccardo Favretto, 20 Manuel Zuliani, 21 Ross Vintcent; 22 Alessandro Garbisi, 23 Jacopo Trulla.

Italy really were uber impressive in this fixture last year. They have a habit of producing their best against France, and Fabien Galthie is all too aware of the issues they may pose.

“Since Gonzalo Quesada’s arrival, Italy have been a very combative team which fights for every ball in attack and defence,” Galthie said.

“They get bodies around the ball. That caused us huge problems in Lille and causes problems for all their opponents.”

Italy captain Michele Lamaro has laid down the gauntlet to France today, urging his side to make the Stadio Olimpico their fortress.

“We certainly took some pressure off ourselves with the victory over Wales, but we want to take advantage of the opportunities we have, at home and at Twickenham, which means showing that we can put in a strong performance,” Lamaro said. “We have two matches in Rome and we want to show that the Olimpico is our fortress and that we don’t give anything away to anyone.”

Did Tommy Freeman manage to ground England’s only try? The officials quickly concluded yes, but the footage appeared inconclusive. The wing wasn’t exactly emphatic when asked about it post-match, either:

It was a difficult evening for Finn Russell and Scotland, so close yet so far and facing another Six Nations campaign without a true title challenge. Is Gregor Townsend safe in his role? There are some tough questions for the head coach now…

At Twickenham, meanwhile, Scotland made all of the running but England emerged on top – Luke Baker watched on as the hosts found a way.

That red card for Garry Ringrose was not a sanction that all agreed with – but assessing the high tackle framework, it’s straightforward to see why the centre was dismissed by referee Christophe Ridley: