Italy vs. France: Date, Live Stream, TV Info, Six Nations 2017 Preview
Italy will hope to upset the odds and get their first points of the 2017 Six Nations Championship on Saturday when they welcome France to the Stadio Olimpico.
The Azzurri have lost all three games they've played thus far under coach Conor O'Shea, while the fifth-placed Bleus aren't faring much better, having won just once: a Week 2 victory over Scotland.
It's been a running theme in recent years that Italy and France have found themselves fighting to keep clear of the Six Nations table base, and a shock against Les Bleus for the Giuseppe Garibaldi Trophy would salvage some pride for the Italians.
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France manager Guy Noves saw his men fail to put a try past Ireland at Dublin's Aviva Stadium last time out, however, and we could see Les Bleus attempt to make up for that loss and release their frustrations.
Read on for a preview of Saturday's showdown, complete with a look at the essential viewing information and headlines leading into the match.
Date: Saturday, March 11
Time: 1:30 p.m. GMT/8:30 a.m. ET
Venue: Stadio Olimpico, Rome
Live Stream: ITV Hub (UK)
TV Info: ITV (UK)
| 1 | England | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 76 | 47 | 1 | 13 |
| 2 | Ireland | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 104 | 46 | 2 | 10 |
| 3 | Scotland | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 72 | 57 | 1 | 9 |
| 4 | Wales | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 62 | 57 | 1 | 5 |
| 5 | France | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 47 | 54 | 1 | 5 |
| 6 | Italy | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 32 | 132 | 0 | 0 |
Battle of the Basement
With only one win between them across a combined six matches, Italy and France find themselves trying to avoid this year's Wooden Spoon.
Noves has endured yet more embarrassment in his struggles to get Les Bleus firing on all cylinders despite boasting two of the tournament's most prolific carriers, per Ultimate Rugby:
Louis Picamoles has been in monstrous form for France already this year, but Italy have a No. 8 weapon of their own in Sergio Parisse, a utility ESPN Scrum's Tom Hamilton recently singled out for praise:
That battle from the base of the pack will go a long way to deciding whether Italy can clinch their first victory over France since 2013, especially with much of the France squad being familiar with Stade Francais-based Parisse.
What started out as a promising first Six Nations at the Italy helm has swiftly turned into another glum run for O'Shea, but four points or more against France will let fans know the team is moving in the right direction.
O'Shea's Tactical Tenacity
Perhaps the biggest shock to emerge from Week 3 of this year's tournament was just how closely run England were in their meeting with Italy—or at least for the opening 40 minutes of that fascinating encounter.
Some saw it as innovation while others interpreted is as gamesmanship for the Azzurri to neglect in forming any rucks, which led to the Italians taking a 7-3 half-time lead, as illustrated by BBC Sport's Richard Conway:
The question is now afoot as to whether we can expect more of the same for Italy's clash against France, which seems possible considering how adamant O'Shea was in defence of the tactics, via Benchwarmers:
"Good Man Conor O'Shea ☘️pic.twitter.com/lFQYRlx96p
— BenchWarmers (@BeWarmers) February 26, 2017"
France are widely renowned for the weight and size of their pack—not least thanks to 155-kilogram prop Uini Atonio—and Italy's non-ruck method could be a useful tool to combat those mismatches.
That being said, any suckers for a tactical battle may yet hold out in the hope O'Shea has yet more curveballs to throw into the mix as he looks to shake up the usual Six Nations order.
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