France moved closer to achieving the Six Nations Grand Slam following a bonus-point victory of 33-8 against Italy at the Stade Pierre-Mauroy in Lille, which featured a closed roof.
Italy matched France for significant stretches of the first half but found themselves trailing 19-0 after thirty minutes as the home side scored three tries.
Wing Louis Bielle-Biarrey crossed the line in the third minute, marking his eighth consecutive try in the Six Nations, and the Italian defense was breached again by second row Emmanuel Meafou before centre Emilien Gailleton’s impressive break set up fly-half Thomas Ramos for the third try.
Italy answered before halftime with a close-range try from full-back Ange Capuozzo, and fly-half Paolo Garbisi’s penalty narrowed the gap to 19-8.
The determined visitors kept France waiting until the 72nd minute for their next try; however, after wing Louis Lynagh received a yellow card for a deliberate knock-on, wing Gael Drean caught Ramos’ kick to score on his first start for Les Bleus, followed by Gailleton also crossing the line.
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