Why is France vs Italy on a Friday night? Real reason behind Six Nations fixture revealed
FRANCE and Italy make Six Nations history on Friday night when they take to the field in Marseille.
France have always played their Six Nations clashes in Paris, in the Stade de France, but they have moved south to Marseille to the Stade Velodrome.
The reason the game is being played on a Friday is down to TV schedulers.
TV broadcasters have long been keen to ensure the Six Nations runs across three days - with a game each on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
France vs Italy: Live stream, TV channel, kick-off time and Six Nations team news
The respective boards of each Six Nations country haven’t been too warm to the idea but the French gave it the green light so they could push through a move to Marseille.
Logistically the change in location makes sense as Italian fans will be able to travel to and from the game easier.
It will also give French fans in the south of the county a better chance to see their side in action.
It’s not the first time France have played in Marseille and they in fact have a good record there. Of the 11 games they have played there since 2000, they have only lost twice.
In the build-up to the game Conor O'Shea has called for Italy to learn from their mistakes.
Both sides lost their opening two fixtures - France by a combined total of eight points - but Italy conceded 15 tries and 102 points in being beaten by England and Ireland.
The losers in Marseille will be firm favourites to prop up this season's Six Nations table, but Italy boss O'Shea is far from downbeat.
"We have a young group which learns match after match," he said.
"We knew that the first two games against England and Ireland would be very tough, but there were a lot of positives in our performance.
"I believe very much in this group and in the path we are going down together.
"A year ago, the depth and the internal competition we can count on today were totally different, and I hope everyone in the environment will see the great progress we are making with Benetton and Zebre.
"In Dublin in the first-half we did not do what we expected, but it is important for us on Friday to learn from our mistakes and show our game-plan, show off our rugby throughout the game.
"For us, Friday is a new opportunity. We must focus on ourselves, and I hope we can offer ourselves and our fans a performance to be proud of."