Italy number eight Cannone fancies clash against familiar France

Italy suffered a 96-17 loss to New Zealand in their last Rugby World Cup game but the dream of reaching the knockout stages is still alive against more familiar opposition, number eight Lorenzo Cannone said.

After winning their opening two fixtures with Namibia and Uruguay, Italy's campaign fell apart against the All Blacks on a disastrous night in Lyon.

"I think as a young, inexperienced squad we felt the pressure, and we probably just didn't deal with that," Cannone told Reuters.

"There was a fear of making mistakes, of not starting the game on the right foot, and we made a lot of individual errors."

After such a resounding defeat, the players were almost at a loss for words after the game, but Cannone says they managed to move on quickly.

"The atmosphere in the camp is good, already the day after the New Zealand game we all met up, players, coaches and staff," he said.

"We spoke about it, and then it was back to normal. We've trained as we always have this week."

FLORENCE'S MACHINE

Cannone, 22, has started all of Italy's World Cup games in France, having also played in every Six Nations game this year.

One of his proudest moments was playing alongside his older brother Niccolo in Italy's 28-27 win over Australia in November 2022, in their native city of Florence.

The siblings also started together in the recent World Cup win over Uruguay and both have now been selected to play in the crunch clash with France.

"Playing at the World Cup with my brother is beautiful, already before that, playing alongside him on my debut was amazing, but getting here to the World Cup together has been, let's say, the cherry on top," he added.

France defeated New Zealand in their opening game, which may not augur well for Italy's chances after what