Women's Rugby World Cup: Italy doesn't want to be a pale copy of France against France

It's never very pleasant to look at yourself in the mirror for long. As the seconds tick by, you see the imperfections and small flaws that you would love to erase. The French women's XV will, however, have to do it for eighty minutes against a "team that looks a lot like them," according to their co-selector, David Ortiz. For their first Rugby World Cup appearance, Les Bleues will face Italy on Saturday, August 23 (kick-off at 9:15 p.m., 10:15 p.m. Paris time), at Sandy Park in Exeter, England.

The Azzurre have "a game quite similar to ours. You never know how it's going to go," confirms second-row Manae Feleu. There's no technical term to describe the Transalpine philosophy, unlike French flair – this propensity to attack unpredictably, often moving away from tactical systems – but a A style based on "instinct," according to the captain of the French team. "They love to play by hand, to restart," adds fly-half Lina Queyroi. "As they are like us, it's often close. They've improved a lot in recent years. This will put us right in the game."

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