France put away Argentina after 'tough' first half says Dupont
Second-half tries by debutant lock Thibaud Flament and hooker Peato Mauvaka and superb goalkicking by Melvyn Jaminet have helped France to a 29-20 victory over a battling Argentina in an intense rugby Test at Stade de France.
Flament was playing flyhalf in the fifth team of England’s Loughborough University five years ago but he was the toast of Paris after he broke through a determined Pumas defence early in the second half on Saturday.
Argentina were leading 10-9 at the time after a first-half Tomas Cubelli try but Flament’s score was followed by a second try for Mauvaka to put the hosts clear.
Argentina showed terrific spirit to launch a series of attacks in the last 10 minutes and closed the gap with a Mateo Carreras try but France had the last word with Jaminet’s fifth penalty.
“The balance is positive but we struggled to keep the ball and they made it tough in the first half,” said captain Antoine Dupont.
“Once we managed that we put them in difficulty, but there’s room for improvement.”
France had the best of the opening quarter and led 6-0 after two penalties from classy fullback Jaminet but Argentina hit back with a try out of the blue after 22 minutes.
Emiliano Boffelli missed a penalty attempt but Pablo Matera charged down Matthieu Jalibert’s subsequent 22 drop out and, after he was hauled down just short, Cubelli scooped up the ball to score under the posts, with Boffelli converting for a 7-6 lead.
Jaminet France edged 9-7 ahead with his third penalty but then missed a relatively easy fourth just before the break – only his second miss from 20 attempts in his fledgling international career.
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France had hoped to find some creative spark by playing Romain Ntamack as a second distributor outside Jalibert but it was the Puma backline that started to click, earning a penalty that Bofelli landed to restore his side’s lead.
It lasted only a couple of minutes however, as lock Flament, who had an excellent all-round debut, ran onto a Jalibert pass to send the home fans wild.
Argentina defended desperately and were rewarded with another Bofelli penalty to bring them back to 16-13 down midway through the half.
However, France’s replacements brought more intensity and a mighty shove splintered an Argentina scrum to earn another penalty for Jaminet for a 19-13 lead.
France’s relentless pressure eventually told again as Jalibert popped a pass off the ground to rampaging replacement hooker Mauvaka for their second try.
France were forced into some impressive defending in the last 15 minutes and though Carreras scored late on and another try was ruled “held up”, Jaminet’s fifth penalty glossed a deserved win.
France next face Georgia ahead of their showdown with New Zealand, while Argentina, who have now lost seven in a row after their clean sweep of defeats in the Rugby Championship, play Italy.
Comments on RugbyPass
We’re building a bridge but can't agree where the river is.
2 Go to commentsfirst no arms shoulder or helmet tackle into his rib cage is going to be so very painful even to watch. go back to RU mate.
1 Go to commentsBulls by 5. Plus another 50.
3 Go to commentsJohan Goosen avatar. Cute. Surely someone at RP knows how to do a google image search?
3 Go to commentsCan’t these games play a little earlier? Asking for a friend.
3 Go to commentsIt’s impressive that we can see huge stadiums with attendance in the 40 000 to 50 000 region. It shows how popular this competition is becoming. What is even more impressive is the massive growth in broadcast viewership. The URC is one of the two best leagues in the World, the other being the Top14.
7 Go to commentsChristie is not Sottish, like the majority of the Scotland team.
2 Go to commentsHold the phone, decline over-rated. Is it a one game, dead cat bounce or the real thing? Has the Penney dropped? Stay tuned.
45 Go to commentsTotally deserved win for the Crusaders Far smarter than the Chiefs who seem to be avoiding the basics when it matters Hotham showed them what was missing and Hannah seems a real find - a tad light but that can be fixed over time
8 Go to commentsGreat insight into the performance culture with Sarries and I predict Christie will be a fixture in the Scotland team now for some time to come. However, he is slightly missing his own point around Scotland “being soft” when he cites physicality examples in defence of that slight. The issue is much closer to the example he referenced around feeling off before a game but being told “it doesn’t matter, you can still play well” by Farrell. Until Scotland can get their psyche in that square, they will carry on folding under extreme pressure…
2 Go to comments> We are having to adapt, evolve and innovate more than when we were in Super Rugby where there was only really one style that everybody had to play to gain the most success. Have = able to? Interesting what that one style might be? I thought SA sides still had bad tours now, or at least bad schedule, months away? Those extra few hours flights have to be a killer though, no surprise to see their sides doing so badly at the start of the season each year. I wouldn’t enjoy that unfairness as a supporter.
7 Go to commentsThe problem for NZ, and Aus, is they ripped up the SR model and lost a massive chunk of revenue that hasn’t been replaced. Don’t forget SA clubs went North because they were left with no choice, Argy unceremoniously binned and Japan cast adrift. Now SR wasn’t perfect, far from it, but they’ve jumped into something without an effective plan, so far, to replace what they’ve lost. The biggest revenue potential now lies in Japan but it won’t be easy or quick to unlock, they are incredibly insular in culture as a nation. In the meantime, there is a serious time bomb sitting under SH rugby and if it happens then the current financial challenges will look like a picnic. IF the Boks follow their provincial teams and head north then it’s revenue meltdown. Not guaranteed to happen but the status quo is a very odd hybrid, with the Boks pointing one way and the clubs pointing the other way. And for as long as that remains then the threat is real.
45 Go to commentsI think Etene has had some good tuition, likely while at the Warriors to be a professional that helped his rugby jump, but he was certainly thrown in the deep end way too early. Should have arguably 20 less SR caps, and therefor a way better record that he does at his age, but his development would have been fast tracked by the need to satiate his signing away from league. Again, credit to him and others that he has done it so well. Easy to fall over under that pressure in the big leagues like that but he kept at it when I myself wasn’t sure he was good enough.
1 Go to commentsAwesome story. I wonder what a bigger American (SA) scene might have mean for Brex.
1 Go to comments“Johnny McNicholl and the Crusaders” save a Penney. Who has been in camp this week and showed them how to play?
8 Go to commentsSo, reports of the Crusaders’ demise / terminal decline are perhaps just - slightly - premature/exaggerated…? 🤔 Will we see a deep-dive into that by the estimable Rugbypass scribes, and maybe one or two mea culpas? Thought not.
8 Go to comments1. The Chiefs are rudderless without DMac, which enhances his AB chances 2. Chiefs pack are powderpuffs. The hard men arent there anymore 3. They had their golden title chance last yr and wont threaten this yr. Gone in second round of playoffs.
8 Go to commentsHonestly, why did you have to publish such a foolish article the day they play us? 😂
45 Go to comments> They are not standalone entities. They are linked to an amateur association which holds the FFR licence that allows the professional side to compete in the league. That’s a great rule. This looks like the chicken or egg professional scenario. How long is it going to be before the club can break even (if that is even a thing in French rugby)? If the locals aren’t into well it would be good to se them drop to amateur level (is it that far?). Hope they can reset from this level and be more practical, there will be a time when they can rebuild (if France has there setup right).
1 Go to commentsWhat about changing the ball? To something heavier and more pointed that bounces unpredictably. Not this almost round football used these days.
35 Go to comments