France vs Italy Prediction & Betting Tips - Rugby World Cup

Prediction published on 04/10/2023, 16:30  by Devesh Jaganath | Modified on 06/10/2023 at 07:00 in Rugby World Cup Prediction

Pool A in the 2023 Rugby World Cup will come to an end, with France taking on Italy this Friday. The host nation currently lead the group with 13 points, while the visitors are in third place with ten points. France only need to avoid defeat here to secure their spot in the quarter-finals. They have been excellent in this tournament so far, which kicked off with a 27-13 win over the All Blacks in week one. While Les Bleus' second win over Uruguay was less impressive, they did field a second-sting side but managed to get the job done. However, after restoring their full team last week, France pulled off the biggest win of the competition so far, beating Namibia 96-0. That win did come at a price, though, as skipper Antoine Dupont left the match with a fractured cheekbone. Still, they have plenty of cover for the scrum-half and will know that while they are heavily backed to win this match, they cannot take Italy for granted. 

Meanwhile, Italy had a very good warm-up campaign and came into the competition with very high hopes. They made a good start to the competition by beating Namibia but were given a brief scare in their second match against Uruguay. Los Teros led the match for a long while, but the Azzurri were too good in the second half. With their two easier matches complete, Italy faced a much tougher opponent in New Zealand last week and were completely outplayed. The All Blacks recorded a 96-17 win over the Italians and ran in an incredible 14 tries in the match. Despite that defeat, Italy are still in with a chance of qualifying if they can beat France here. However, across 47 matches between these Six Nations rivals, the Azzuri have only won three and none of those were in the last decade.