Ethan Dumortier scored a try on his France debut as Les Bleus launched their Six Nations title defence with a 29-24 bonus-point victory over Italy at the Stadio Olimpico
Ethan Dumortier celebrates France’s victory over Italy.Photograph: Silvia Lore/Getty ImagesShaun Edwards admitted France were hanging on at the end after avoiding a shock defeat in Italy by edging to a 29-24 victory at the Stadio Olimpico. Ethan Dumortier scored a try on his France debut as Les Bleus launched theirtitle defence with a bonus-point win but only after a major scare as Italy led during the second half.
“The fitness levels, they came on strong in the second half and let’s be honest, we was hanging on at the end. We did hang on, we move on.”Edwards added: “We certainly got a serious challenge, and in the first half we were quite dominant and obviously the score reflected that. Second half they came on leaps and bounds and at the end obviously it was a very tight affair.
Thibaud Flament, Thomas Ramos and Matthieu Jalibert also got on the scoresheet for the grand slam champions, while Ange Capuozzo dotted down for Italy and Tommaso Allan added four penalties.
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