The opening weekend of the 2023 Six Nations concludes in Rome on Sunday when Italy welcome France to the Stadio Olimpico.
The hosts head into the tournament hopeful of ending their run of seven successive wooden spoons, whereas France are bidding for back-to-back Grand Slams - a feat which has never been achieved in the Six Nations era.
Match preview
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Despite finishing at the bottom of the Six Nations pile for a seventh successive year last season, 2022 brought with it signs of encouragement for Italy in their hopes of truly competing with the rest of the best the Northern Hemisphere has to offer.
Defeats in their opening four matches extended their torrid record losing run in the competition to a whopping 36 straight games, but that finally came to an end in their final game of the tournament as they memorably beat Wales at the Principality Stadium.
It was a major monkey off Italy's back, and sparked a run of five wins in the space of six Tests - a marked improvement for a team that had won just one of their previous 21 outings before that.
Three of those wins came against non-Tier 1 nations - Portugal, Romania and Samoa - but there was also a first-ever victory over Australia in Florence in their penultimate game of the year.
There is still work to do to convince everyone that they are worthy of their spot in the Six Nations ahead of the likes of Georgia, particularly having been on the wrong end of the Lelos' first-ever win against a Tier 1 nation last year, but they come into this year's tournament with an air of cautious optimism which has been lacking from many recent campaigns.
Italy's five-win tally from 2022 matched that of England and Scotland, and was two more than Wales managed, although the calibre of opposition was not as high in general for the Azzurri's victories, and the standard of the Six Nations is arguably higher than ever.
Nonetheless, Italy's win ratio of 45% in 2022 was their best in a calendar year since 2007 and their highest in a non-World Cup year since 1998, while their five wins was the most they have achieved in a non-World Cup year since the game turned professional.
Traditionally, the Azzurri have performed better in the Six Nations with a World Cup on the horizon too, winning 20% of their matches in such years and avoiding the wooden spoon three times out of five, compared to just three times from 18 Six Nations campaigns in non-World Cup years.
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Head coach Kieran Crowley will certainly be optimistic of continuing that trend, having seen his side win a Six Nations game for the first time since 2015 last year, but their own improvement happens to coincide with a time when all of their competitors are also in seemingly better shape than last year.
In France's case, that presents a worrying proposition to the rest of the field considering that they enjoyed their best-ever year in 2022, winning every single one of their 10 fixtures - the only men's Tier 1 nation to achieve that.
It was also the first time that France have ever managed that in a year which has seen them play more than twice and, stretching back to the end of 2021, they are now on their best-ever run of 13 successive Test victories. Indeed, before this run, France had only once won more than eight consecutive games, and that 10-game streak came all the way back in the 1930s.
To make it back-to-back Grand Slams, France would need to equal the longest winning streak of any Tier 1 nation in international rugby history, a record currently jointly held by New Zealand and England at 18, and in doing so would become the first team to win successive Slams in the Six Nations era.
Les Bleus were the last to do that in the Five Nations - in 1997 and 1998 - but would no doubt settle for a second title on the bounce, which is something they have not managed since 2007.
What makes France's current winning run all the more impressive is that they have beaten every other Tier 1 nation along the way, including their famous 40-25 triumph over the All Blacks, and wins over Australia and world champions South Africa last year.
However, more than any other team in this year's Six Nations, France will need to prevent their focus from drifting further down the line to the World Cup on home soil later this year - a tournament they are currently favourites to win for the very first time.
Fabien Galthie's side would emphatically enhance that status as favourites if they add a record-equalling seventh Six Nations trophy to their cabinet, particularly given that they have to play away against Ireland and England in this year's tournament.
This is a France side with fewer weaknesses than perhaps ever before, though, and with discipline in both defence and attack usurping the old mercurial style which previously served as both their biggest strength and biggest weakness, Galthie's men have all of the tools to make this year even more memorable than the last.
Team News
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Italy will be without the injured Paolo Garbisi at fly-half, with Tommaso Allan coming in to replace him at 10 and join Stephen Varney in the half-backs.
Perhaps the most glaring absentee is Monty Ioane, who topped the Six Nations in most line breaks and dominant tackles during last year's Championship but will play no part in Rome.
Instead, Tommaso Menoncello - a try-scorer on debut against France last year - and Pierre Bruno will be on the wings, with World Rugby's Breakthrough Player of the Year Ange Capuozzo at full-back having burst onto the scene towards the end of the 2022 tournament.
Flanker Michele Lamaro will captain the team having registered a whopping 86 tackles in last year's Six Nations - the second-highest total by a single player in any edition of the Championship.
The pack includes Giacomo Nicotera at hooker in Gianmarco Lucchesi's absence, as well as Cannone brothers Niccolo and Lorenzo.
Edoardo Iachizzi could make his debut off the bench, while his namesake Edoardo Padovani is also amongst the subs, having touched down the match-winning try against Wales in Italy's last Six Nations outing.
Last year's Player of the Championship Antoine Dupont leads the France team from scrum-half, and another star showing from him this year could lead to him joining Brian O'Driscoll as the only three-time winners of that award.
Ethan Dumortier will make his France debut on the left wing after Gabin Villiere was ruled out of the tournament through injury, joining Thomas Ramos and Damian Penaud - the latter of whom scored more tries than any other player for a Tier 1 nation in 2022 - in the back three.
Outside-centre Gael Fickou will make his 40th Six Nations appearance, moving outright into the lead as France's most-capped player in the competition, while the back row sees Anthony Jelonch and Charles Ollivon either side of Gregory Alldritt, who made the most carries, hit the most defensive rucks and won the most turnovers in last year's tournament.
Italy starting lineup:
15 Ange Capuozzo, 14 Pierre Bruno, 13 Juan Ignacio Brex, 12 Luca Morisi, 11 Tommaso Menoncello, 10 Tommaso Allan, 9 Stephen Varney; 1 Danilo Fischetti, 2 Giacomo Nicotera, 3 Simone Ferrari, 4 Niccolo Cannone, 5 Federico Ruzza, 6 Sebastian Negri, 7 Michele Lamaro (c), 8 Lorenzo Cannone
Replacements: 16 Luca Bigi, 17 Federico Zani, 18 Pietro Ceccarelli, 19 Edoardo Iachizzi, 20 Giovanni Pettinelli, 21 Manuel Zuliani, 22 Alessandro Fusco, 23 Edoardo Padovani
France starting lineup:
15 Thomas Ramos, 14 Damian Penaud, 13 Gael Fickou, 12 Yoram Moefana, 11 Ethan Dumortier, 10 Romain Ntamack, 9 Antoine Dupont (c); 1 Cyril Baille, 2 Julien Marchand, 3 Uini Atonio, 4 Thibaud Flament, 5 Paul Willemse, 6 Anthony Jelonch, 7 Charles Ollivon, 8 Gregory Alldritt
Replacements: 16 Gaetan Barlot, 17 Reda Wardi, 18 Sipili Falatea, 19 Romain Taofifenua, 20 Thomas Lavault, 21 Sekou Macalou, 22 Nolann Le Garrec, 23 Matthieu Jalibert
Head To Head
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Unsurprisingly, France dominate the head-to-head record of this fixture, winning 43 of the past 46 meetings between the two sides in all competitions.
In the Six Nations alone France have 21 wins from 23 games, with Italy's two victories coming in 2011 and 2013, making it a decade since they last toppled Les Bleus.
That victory 10 years ago did come at the Stadio Olimpico, but that is their only win in six meetings with France here; indeed, France have won five of six visits to the stadium, whereas Italy have only won three of their 36 games there.
We say: Italy 10-41 France
France may sit just behind Ireland in the world rankings, but they are on a longer winning run than any other international team on the planet at the moment and Italy could hardly have wished for a more difficult start to their campaign.
The Azzurri have improved, but unfortunately for them every other team in the Six Nations is an even more formidable proposition than they were last season too, so their hopes of avoiding the wooden spoon could be bleak.
Certainly, anything other than a fairly comfortable win for France in this opener would come as a major shock, and the biggest question seems to be by how many points the visitors will win.
Barney Corkhill
