PARIS (AFP) - France kept their hopes alive of retaining the Six Nations title after beating a stubborn Italian side 25-13 here at the Stade de France on Sunday.
Tries by Anthony Floch, his first for his country, Yannick Jauzion, on his return to the side, and Aurelien Rougerie were enough to give the hosts a much needed win.
The Italians scored one try through prop Martin Castrogiovanni to add to the one he scored in the last match against Wales.
France must travel to Cardiff next Saturday and beat the Welsh by 20 points if they are to retain their crown, while Wales are bidding for the Grand Slam.
French scrum-half Dimitri Yachvili admitted that their task next week was a tough one.
"We are not very confident as we know it will be very hard next week," said Yachvili, who was almost faultless with the boot.
"We will try to do our best. However, we are very happy to beat the Italians. We will try to work well during the week. We just want to win first and then we will think about the points difference."
Italy came under early pressure when centre Mirco Bergamasco fumbled the ball and France got a penalty right in front of the posts.
However, French captain Lionel Nallet opted to run it himself and crossed the line but referee Alan Lewis refused to give it and instead gave Italy a scrum.
The French, though, finally made the breakthrough in the 13th minute as their forwards pushed the much more experienced Italian pack back some 30 metres.
The ball was fed out to Francois Trinh Duc, who chipped over the Italian defence in their 22 where Clermont winger Julien Malzieu collected and snappily passed to his clubmate Floch, who touched down.
Yachvili converted to make it 7-0.
The Italians reduced the deficit in the 18th minute when former Italy Under-21 captain Andrea Marcato converted a penalty awarded when Louis Picamoles went offside.
The visitors should have taken the lead in sensational fashion in the 20th minute as a smart passing movement initiated by captain Sergio Parisse saw Leonardo Ghiraldini burst free down the left wing.
He unselfishly offloaded to Gonzalo Canale, but just as he had done in Cardiff against Wales Italy's most experienced back dropped the ball with the try line beckoning.
Canale's popularity with coach Nick Mallett dipped even further in the 27th minute when he was penalised for obstructing Jauzion, an opportunity that Yachvili accepted gratefully to give France a 10-3 lead.
Italy restored the four point deficit just after the half-hour mark when Marcato stroked over his second penalty after France hooker Dimitri Szarzewski was penalised for handling in the ruck.
Yachvili, though, added another penalty in the 36th minute to make it 13-6.
The second-half started in quieter fashion with both sides kicking for position for the first 10 minutes, drawing boos from the crowd.
However, the French gained some breathing space when Yachvili chipped over the static Italian defence and Jauzion ran onto collect the ball and touch down for his 17th try in 51 tests - Yachvili for once missed the conversion as it came back off the post.
The Italians refused to lie down and stormed back at the French with their pack destroying the hosts eight as they drove them back 25 metres. That resulted in Castrogiovanni being awarded a try just before the hour mark.
The French thought they had got another try through Rougerie in the 61st minute as he bulldozed his way over after good work by Floch, but Mirco Bergamasco did wonderfully well in tackling the wing and also preventing him from touching the ball down.
"I don't know if was a try, but the referee said it wasn't," said man of the match Rougerie.
However, Rougerie did get his name on the scoreboard in the 65th minute as he burst into the line in the centre of the pitch and seizing a pass from Damien Traille crossed over with ease for his 25th try.
Yachvili converted to at last give the French a sizeable lead.
"I would like to pay more credit to the set-up, thanks Damien for the try. It will be very difficult against Wales in Cardiff, it will be a beautiful game."
