France host Italy in round three of the 2026 Guinness Men’s Six Nations, with the defending champions looking to strengthen their hold on the title and edge closer to a rare back-to-back championship. France come into this with two commanding victories and the only unbeaten record in the tournament, while Italy have shown promise with a tournament-opening win over Scotland, followed by a close defeat to Ireland. This fixture pits an attack firing on all cylinders against an Italy side that has improved dramatically in recent years.
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The teams
France (1–15)
15 Thomas Ramos; 14 Théo Attissogbe; 13 Émilien Gailleton; 12 Fabien Brau-Boirie; 11 Louis Bielle-Biarrey; 10 Matthieu Jalibert; 9 Antoine Dupont; 1 Jean-Baptiste Gros; 2 Julien Marchand; 3 Dorian Aldegheri; 4 Thibaud Flament; 5 Emmanuel Meafou; 6 François Cros; 7 Oscar Jégou; 8 Anthony Jelonch (capt).
Bench: Peato Mauvaka; Rodrigue Neti; Georges-Henri Colombe; Charles Ollivon; Mickaël Guillard; Lenni Nouchi; Baptiste Serin; Pierre-Louis Barassi.
France field a settled backline that clicked last weekend, with Dupont and Ramos key to their current attacking rhythm. Changes in the second row aim to boost set-piece effectiveness without disrupting continuity.
Italy (1–15)
15 Ange Capuozzo; 14 Louis Lynagh; 13 Tommaso Menoncello; 12 Leonardo Marin; 11 Monty Ioane; 10 Paolo Garbisi; 9 Alessandro Fusco; 1 Danilo Fischetti; 2 Giacomo Nicotera; 3 Simone Ferrari; 4 Niccolò Cannone; 5 Andrea Zambonin; 6 Michele Lamaro (capt); 7 Manuel Zuliani; 8 Lorenzo Cannone.
Bench: Pablo Dimcheff; Mirco Spagnolo; Giosue Zilocchi; Federico Ruzza; Riccardo Favretto; David Odiase; Alessandro Garbisi; Paolo Odogwu.
Italy start much the same pack that nearly toppled Ireland, with Garbisi and Capuozzo providing attacking leadership. Their forward group, led by prop Simone Ferrari, has been a renewed strength in scrums and tight exchanges.
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Recent Six Nations head-to-head (last five)
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2025: Italy 24–73 France
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2024: France 13–13 Italy
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2023: Italy 24–29 France
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2022: France 37–10 Italy
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2021: Italy 10–50 France
France have historically dominated with 16 wins to Italy’s two in Six Nations meetings, but Italy have pushed France hard in recent years, including a draw in 2024 and a narrow loss in 2023.
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How the game shapes up
France enter this weekend off an emphatic 54-12 win over Wales. Their ability to score multiple tries from different channels highlights the variety and creativity at Galthié’s disposal.
Italy will take confidence from their strong start to this Six Nations, including a home win over Scotland and a narrow defeat in Dublin. That improvement means they are capable of keeping scorelines respectable and have enough belief to stay competitive in phases where France usually dominate.
For Italy, consistency remains the challenge — scoring opportunities come in bursts and pressure periods still favour the hosts. France will likely control tempo and convert pressure into scoreboard advantage early.
Betting prediction (best-value angles)
France are obvious favourites and expected to win comfortably, but the handicap markets reflect a tendency for Italy to keep games closer than expected. Lines around Italy +29.5 @1.69 give the visitors a large buffer that acknowledges both France’s superiority and Italy’s competitiveness. A reasonable prediction is a France win by a margin in the mid-20s, supporting Italy +29.5 as value.
Pick: France to win
Value angle: Italy +29.5 @ 1.69
Projected score: France by 18-24.
Understanding rugby markets – tries, handicaps and winning margins
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