French players take the blame for Italy defeat

Yoann Meastri didn’t try to hide behind fitness excuses following France‘s shock 23-18 defeat in Italy last Sunday in the opening round of the RBS Six Nations.
Instead, the Toulouse lock, above with his hands on his knees, rued over mistakes and missed opportunities which prevented them from winning a hard-fought game.
He said: “It was a tough battle. We had opportunities to get back into the game but they went to waste.
“We won’t try to find excuses. It wasn’t a fitness issue. I was about details that didn’t go our way.
“We made a lot of mistakes and the Italians played a perfect game.”
France are back at the Stade de France to face Wales on Saturday where the outcome of the game will be crucial for both teams in their title hopes.
Grand Slam champions Wales suffered a 30-22 defeat at home to Ireland and must also win this game if they want to have any chance of retaining the Six Nations trophy.
While scrum-half Maxime Machenaud couldn’t hide his disappointment from the defeat in Rome, he pledged his team was working hard to make amends this time around.
He said: “Of course, we had other objectives before the tournament but we have to analyse what went wrong and move on.
“We’ve got to put it behind us and prepare well for the reception of Wales who will give us a very tough game.”