French catch Italians napping

Italy 27 France 53

France beat Italy 53–27 in the Six Nations series here yesterday to earn an undisputed third place in the prestigious European competition, as the commanding duo of England and Ireland stayed out of reach following the fourth and next–to–last round of matches.

The French team, the defending Six Nations champion, scored five tries in the first half and added two in the second period while substitute kicker Dimitri Yachvili proved almost infallible converting six tries and scoring on two penalties.

The second victory in four matches lifted France to four points, four behind England and Ireland, which will play a Six Nations Grand Slam showdown in their closing match of the competition on March 30.

The day before France will play last–place Wales, while Scotland and Italy, tied at two points, will square off for fourth place.

France started strongly at Rome's Flaminio stadium and a try by Serge Betsen, converted by Yachvili, gave the French side an early 7–0 lead.

Italy, coming off a 40–5 beating by England in the previous round, got its first three points after 12 minutes off a penalty kick by Ramiro Pez, a last–minute substitute of sick fly–half and top kicker Diego Dominguez.

One penalty and three consecutive tries – two by Damien Trailler and one by Aurelien Rugerie – all converted by Yachvili boosted France's score to 31–3.

A penalty kick by Yachvili, who replaced injured regular kicker Fabien Galthie, and the first Six Nations try by newcomer Frederic Michalak stretched France's lead to 41–3. But Pez scored and converted Italy's first try in the 40th to make it 41–10 by half–time.

The French team slowed down its pressure in the second half but still had two tries with Thomas Castaignede and Rougerie, his second in the match.

Italy, which captured its only win in the Six Nations opener against Wales, played definitely better in the second half and could score three tries with Mirco Bergamasco, Aaron Perisco and Matthew Phillips.

Phillips, a New Zealander who has been playing on Italy's national team since last year, scored the last try for the home squad in injury time as Pez missed two of three second–half conversions.

About 16,000 fans watched the match in sunny, clear weather. Italian and French flags mixed with anti–war banners.

Italy 27
Tries: Pez, Mirco Bergamasco, Persico, Phillips.
Cons: Pez 2.
Pen: Pez.

France 53
Tries: Betsen, Traille 2, Rougerie 2, Michalak, Castaignède.
Cons: Yachvili 6.
Pens: Yachvili 2.

Half-time: 10-41 Att: 24,500

ITALY: Mirco Bergamasco (Padua); N Mazzuccato (Treviso), P Vaccari (Calvisano), G Raineri (Calvisano), D Dallan (Treviso); R Pez (Rotherham), A Troncon (Treviso, capt); M Phillips (Viadana), A Persico (Viadana), A de Rossi (Calvisano), M Giacheri (Rotherham), C Bezzi (Viadana), R Martinez (Treviso), C Festuccia (Parma), A Lo Cicero (Lazio). Replacements: F Ongaro (Treviso) for Vaccari, 77, L Castrogiovanni (Calvisano) for Martinez, 53, S Dellape (Treviso) for Giacheri, 60, S Palmer (Treviso) for De Rossi 53.

FRANCE: C Poitrenaud (Toulouse); A Rougerie (Montferrand), T Castaignède (Saracens), D Traille (Pau), X Garbajosa (Toulouse); F Michalak (Toulouse), D Yachvili (Biarritz); I Harinordoquy (Pau), O Magne (Montferrand), S Betsen (Biarritz), O Brouzet (Montferrand), F Pelous (Toulouse, capt), S Marconnet (Stade Français), R Ibanez (Stade Français), J-J Crenca (Agen). Replacements: O Milloud (Bourgoin) for Crenca, 73, D Auradou (Stade Français) for Brouzet, 67, P Tabacco (Stade Français) for Harinordoquy, 70.

Referee: Nigel Williams (Wales).