“Italy were tenacious”, said French coach Philippe Saint-Andre, who already knows he will leave at the end of the tournament.
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Giovanbattista Venditti responded in the 51st minute with a consolation try for Italy before a distressed Huget was helped from the field.
He continued: “Today we have a win and a bad injury but we need to carry on with a smile”.
Italy coach Jacques Brunel revealed that centre Andrea Masi ruptured his Achilles tendon and will miss the rest of the World Cup and possibly the remainder of the season.
Like Canada did for Ireland, Italy practically gifted the win.
It goes without saying that any side would suffer for the loss of three key starters; however, the drop in quality that is observable when one looks beyond Italy’s first XV is nearly unique among the tier-one nations.
The Italians gave away 19 penalties to France’s 17.
“We’ve had 12 scrums in all, and we’ve been penalized six times, and five on our put-in”, Brunel said. “It’s the latest in a series of events that leave us with a bitter taste in the mouth”, Brunel said.
Freddie Michalak will approach his revival as France’s playmaker for the World Cup by treating every minute on the pitch as his last.
France finally scored their first try in the 44th minute.
The French might have had a try in the first half but were denied for a knock-on which it took referee Craig Joubert two consultations with the TMO to resolve.
After a scrappy first-half in which all the French points came from the boot of Frederic Michalak, Saint-Andre’s side opened up with some flair to add two tries to their 15-3 half-time advantage, with Rabah Slimani touching down after Michalak’s smart kick with prop Nicolas Mas also scoring.
He added his congratulations for captain Thierry Dusautoir and the team but bemoaned their inability to get a bonus point.
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Just 24 hours after a near-carbon copy incident at the same venue involving England, wing Noa Nakaitaci had a 10th-minute try awarded and then disallowed moments before the conversion was to be taken by Freddie Michalak. His stand-in, the former Scotland youth worldwide , Tomasso Allan (22), by contrast, only just won only his tenth cap this evening and, for all of his eye-catching pedigree, has not yet managed to nail down a starting spot at the Rugby Pro D2 side Perpignan.
