ROME // Italy stunned France 22-21 in a major upset after a late penalty goal from Mirco Bergamasco for its first victory in the Six Nations this season.
Bergamasco contributed 17 points and fullback Andrea Masi scored Italy's only try at Stadio Flamino as the hosts beat the French in the Six Nations for the first time. It was only Italy's second win against France, the first coming in 1997.
"We played today against a good French team, who have reached two World Cup finals and have always thrashed Italy really, so it's a huge achievement," Italy coach Nick Mallett said. "I've got a great captain in Sergio Parisse - he's been a lone figure over the last four years, but he's now playing with a team where he just has to do his part. Today we had 15, 22 players all playing their parts."
Bergamasco had appeared to be suffering from nerves after earlier missing two more straightforward kicks, and Parisse later praised his composure.
"Mirco asked to kick again and he got the important penalty," Parisse said, before referring to Mallett. "He's the only coach who believed in us, I want to dedicate this victory to him."
Vincent Clerc and Morgan Parra scored tries for France, while Parra also kicked 11 points.
Trailing 8-6 at halftime after conceding a try to Clerc, Italy responded through a try for Masi in the 60th minute and Bergmasco kicked three more penalty goals for the Italians to send the crowd into raptures.
Italy will now travel to meet Scotland in the final round aiming to emulate its 2007 win at Edinburgh.
Bergamasco gave Italy an early 3-0 lead after France captain Thierry Dusautoir was offside at a ruck. The French responded by testing Masi under the high ball but the fullbook stood firm under the pressure.
Clerc scored the first try of the match in the 13th minute.
Masi failed to find touch from France flyhalf Francois Trinh-Duc's initial kick, allowing Dusautoir and Maxine Medard to link up to take the ball deep into Italy's half. The ball went to the left wing and Clerc chipped over Gonzalo Canale, winning the race to the ball to touch down.
Only a desperate tackle from Italy's Gonzalo Garcia stopped Clerc from scoring again soon after the restart, but a scrum penalty then allowed Parra to push France's lead out to 8-3.
Bergamasco kicked his second penalty in the 23rd for Italy to narrow the gap after another ruck infringement.
France maintained the pressure close to Italy's line in the second half, and Parra stretched the lead with another penalty. But the mistakes continued from the visitors' backs, with Yannick Jauzion knocking on.
When Italy conceded another scrummaging penalty. France kicked to touch and, after Julien Bonnaire took the lineout, the visitors pounded Italy's line. Eventually, Trinh-Duc burst through a gap to pop a pass for Parra to run in and score under the posts.
Bergamasco's mixed form with the boot continued when he missed a simple penalty from in front of the posts and dragged another one wide soon after.
Italy was rewarded for some pressure when Masi crossed the line. Alessandro Zanni drove at the heart of France's line and offloaded to winger Tommaso Benvenuti. The ball was flicked to Masi and he crashed through the tackle of Parra to touch down, with Bergamasco adding the conversion from near the touchline.
With its confidence boosted and the stadium roaring them on, Italy tore into France and Bergamasco's penalty brought the score to within three points.
France's nerves began to show and Trinh-Duc missed the target with a rushed drop goal attempt. But Parra atoned minutes later with his third penalty before Bergamasco landed his fourth with 10 minutes to go.
A clever kick by Italy's Kristopher Burton behind Huget caused France problems inside its own 22. The visitors conceded a penalty that Bergamasco kicked to put Italy in the lead for the first time in the match.
With one second remaining, France won a scrum midway in Italy's half. Imanol Harinordoquy broke from the back, but was swarmed on by Italy's defense before referee Bryce Lawrence blew for full-time.
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THE LIGHT
Director: Tom Tykwer
Starring: Tala Al Deen, Nicolette Krebitz, Lars Eidinger
Rating: 3/5
More from Aya Iskandarani
Specs
Engine: Duel electric motors
Power: 659hp
Torque: 1075Nm
On sale: Available for pre-order now
Price: On request
How to protect yourself when air quality drops
Install an air filter in your home.
Close your windows and turn on the AC.
Shower or bath after being outside.
Wear a face mask.
Stay indoors when conditions are particularly poor.
If driving, turn your engine off when stationary.
NO OTHER LAND
Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
Info
What: 11th edition of the Mubadala World Tennis Championship
When: December 27-29, 2018
Confirmed: men: Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, Kevin Anderson, Dominic Thiem, Hyeon Chung, Karen Khachanov; women: Venus Williams
Tickets: www.ticketmaster.ae, Virgin megastores or call 800 86 823
Specs
Engine: Electric motor generating 54.2kWh (Cooper SE and Aceman SE), 64.6kW (Countryman All4 SE)
Power: 218hp (Cooper and Aceman), 313hp (Countryman)
Torque: 330Nm (Cooper and Aceman), 494Nm (Countryman)
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh158,000 (Cooper), Dh168,000 (Aceman), Dh190,000 (Countryman)
Kalra's feat
- Becomes fifth batsman to score century in U19 final
- Becomes second Indian to score century in U19 final after Unmukt Chand in 2012
- Scored 122 in youth Test on tour of England
- Bought by Delhi Daredevils for base price of two million Indian rupees (Dh115,000) in 2018 IPL auction
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
The National's picks
4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young
The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
At a glance
Global events: Much of the UK’s economic woes were blamed on “increased global uncertainty”, which can be interpreted as the economic impact of the Ukraine war and the uncertainty over Donald Trump’s tariffs.
Growth forecasts: Cut for 2025 from 2 per cent to 1 per cent. The OBR watchdog also estimated inflation will average 3.2 per cent this year
Welfare: Universal credit health element cut by 50 per cent and frozen for new claimants, building on cuts to the disability and incapacity bill set out earlier this month
Spending cuts: Overall day-to day-spending across government cut by £6.1bn in 2029-30
Tax evasion: Steps to crack down on tax evasion to raise “£6.5bn per year” for the public purse
Defence: New high-tech weaponry, upgrading HM Naval Base in Portsmouth
Housing: Housebuilding to reach its highest in 40 years, with planning reforms helping generate an extra £3.4bn for public finances
Real estate tokenisation project
Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.
The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.
Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.
Match info
Liverpool 3
Hoedt (10' og), Matip (21'), Salah (45 3')
Southampton 0
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The specs
Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
Transmission: seven-speed
Power: 620bhp
Torque: 760Nm
Price: Dh898,000
On sale: now
A MINECRAFT MOVIE
Director: Jared Hess
Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa
Rating: 3/5
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Company%20profile
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The specs
Engine: 3.0-litre six-cylinder turbo
Power: 398hp from 5,250rpm
Torque: 580Nm at 1,900-4,800rpm
Transmission: Eight-speed auto
Fuel economy, combined: 6.5L/100km
On sale: December
Price: From Dh330,000 (estimate)
The specs
Engine: 3.0-litre six-cylinder MHEV
Power: 360bhp
Torque: 500Nm
Transmission: eight-speed automatic
Price: from Dh282,870
On sale: now
THE SPECS
Engine: 6.75-litre twin-turbocharged V12 petrol engine
Power: 420kW
Torque: 780Nm
Transmission: 8-speed automatic
Price: From Dh1,350,000
On sale: Available for preorder now
Company profile
Company name: Dharma
Date started: 2018
Founders: Charaf El Mansouri, Nisma Benani, Leah Howe
Based: Abu Dhabi
Sector: TravelTech
Funding stage: Pre-series A
Investors: Convivialite Ventures, BY Partners, Shorooq Partners, L& Ventures, Flat6Labs
Famous left-handers
- Marie Curie
- Jimi Hendrix
- Leonardo Di Vinci
- David Bowie
- Paul McCartney
- Albert Einstein
- Jack the Ripper
- Barack Obama
- Helen Keller
- Joan of Arc
Test
Director: S Sashikanth
Cast: Nayanthara, Siddharth, Meera Jasmine, R Madhavan
Star rating: 2/5
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