France vs Italy Betting Tips: Two predictions for Friday's Rugby World Cup clash

France have won all three of their Rugby World Cup matches, but the hosts still require a win or draw against Italy on Friday night with the Italians knowing a shock victory in Lyon would see them progress to the knockout stages of the tournament. France are without inspirational scrum-half Antoine Dupont, who is still recovering from a cheekbone injury, but the unbeaten French will still unleash a devilishly strong team in their final Pool A match and they should have no issues with an Italian side that were thumped by New Zealand last time out.

Our man Steve Chambers is in the box seat to preview this match and he has picked out two tips for what should be a pretty one-sided contest...

France were last seen obliterating Namibia 96-0, but that victory did come at a cost with the dynamic Antoine Dupont picking up a nasty facial injury and it's a race against time to see if he will be fit for the latter stages of the tournament, but France know they still need to do the business against Italy on Friday evening, but at 1/100 with the bookmakers we are unlikely to see any shocks in the Lyon clash against Italy. The Azzurri suffered their own embarrassment last week as they were absolutely thumped 96-17 by a resurgent New Zealand side, so the 18/1 with BetMGM for Italy to gain the win here and leapfrog France in Pool A is unlikely, while the draw is available at 100/1 with BoyleSports.

Completely dominated at the scrum in that harrowing loss to the All Blacks, Italian head coach Kieran Crowley has been forced to change the entire front-row as he looks to gain some solidity at the scrum, but it may not be the forwards that Italy need to worry about as the French backs have been mesmeric at times during the Rugby World Cup. Their conductor Dupont may not be there, Maxime Luca is an able replacement to provide decent service to the midfield, who should be able to help star winger Damien Penaud work his magic.

However, Italy are sure to be a much tougher opponent this time around, as they completely disintegrated against the All Blacks, as the multiple world champions ran past them with ease, but France may not have such luck. The standout bet in the handicap market is for Italy +27.5 points, as it would be no surprise to see France get comfortably ahead and then put on the brakes as they rest players for the last-eight. With only a win need, the French could well tinker with positions in the second half and they may lack fluidity in the final 40 minutes as they set their sights on the quarter-final. With Italy likely to be playing their last game in the Rugby World Cup, they will be fighting to the bitter end and they can just about cover the handicap.

With four tries in the tournament already, the abovementioned Penaud will certainly be licking his lips at trying to propel to the top of the World Cup Top Tryscorer mark, which currently sits at five, but the winger is far from an attractive price at 2/5 to score at anytime, so it's worth looking elsewhere for some value.

Italy were embarrassed at the scrum last time out against New Zealand as the All Blacks overpowered them for all 80 minutes, and while Crowley has opted to name a completely new front row, the French side are sure to be targeting the scrums and they could well get some success with the set-piece. So, why not snap up the 19/10 on offer from BoyleSports for French number eight Gregory Alldritt to score at anytime during the match. France are bound to play most of the match in the Italian half and will continue to keep them on the back foot, so there could be an array of five-metre scrums during the match and with the lack of power in the Italian pack then Alldritt could well go over to notch a five-pointer.

While in theory this battle is a winner-takes-all with New Zealand likely to qualify alongside the winner, France have been superb so far in the tournament and should have far too much quality to down their European rivals in what will see the French solidify their chances as leading contenders for Rugby World Cup glory.