LYON – Damian Penaud propelled France to a 60-7 bonus-point win over Italy in front of a deafening OL Stadium crowd. France dominated Italy from the whistle and surge into the Rugby World Cup 2023 quarter-finals on the back of four impressive Pool A wins in a row.
There is no doubt who the first half belonged to. It took just two minutes for France to move accurately through the phases and give winger Damian Penaud the space he thrives in. Having touched down in the left corner, Penaud soon turned provider, floating a chip for fellow wing Louis Bielle-Biarrey to run on to. Another assist, this time for full-back Thomas Ramos, followed in the 22nd minute, before Penaud wrapped up the bonus-point himself, scoring on the right touchline two minutes before half-time.
Penaud has now scored 14 tries for France this year, with his second effort taking him to 35 overall and into second place on the list of all-time French try scorers.
A late try for replacement Manuel Zuliani was as good as it got for Italy while France grabbed four more tries in the second period – including a fine pair for substitute Yoram Moefana – and go to the knockout stages full of confidence.
Les Bleus captain Charles Ollivon said: “Four games, four wins. This was an elimination match for us, we had no right to make mistakes. We wanted to play with intensity and we did, and we kept it up for 80 minutes. It’s very positive and sets us up for the next stage.
“We really want to be there. We’re prepared for it, we’re working for it. We know it’s going to be tough, but we want to take everyone with us. We’re going to leave it all out there” Ollivon added.
Italy head coach Crowley, who say goodbye to Italy on the back of two losses, said of the result: “We gave away a lot of penalties early on and then we just didn’t get any momentum because our breakdown work wasn’t good enough. The interpretation sometimes left a bit to be desired but that’s the way it was.
They were just too physical, too powerful for us” Crowley added.
