France sneak home after Pumas comeback

Emiliano Boffelli missed a 79th minute penalty to hand France a nail-biting 23-21 victory over Argentina in their Pool C clash in Tokyo on Saturday.

Boffelli’s miss was a costly one that could have won Los Pumas the game and cap an incredible comeback from 20-3 down as the Argentineans bossed the second half, but ultimately didn’t have enough to sneak home.

Instead an audacious drop goal by substitute Camille Lopez, seconds after appearing on the field, sealed victory for the French who were champagne in the first half, but flat in the second, allowing the Pumas to make it an inspiring contest in the first weekend of this year’s Rugby World Cup.

Despite early scrum dominance, it was the French with five minutes of panache that turned the contest on its head to dominate the first half, while Argentina emerged in the second and clawed their way back into the lead, only to see it snatched away by Lopez’ drop goal and then fluff their own chance of winning the game.

In all aspects this was an exceptional game that just underlined the standard that the matches will be played at in this World Cup, although some refereeing calls, especially in the last 10 minutes where the offside line was non-existant, need to be looked at.

Still, in a clear classic clash there was much for both sides to walk away with in the pool of death, but the pressure will not come onto the Argentineans who will need to start better next time out if they are to make the quarters.

Their performance in the first half was good at setpiece, but they were ripped apart in a five minute interval in the middle of the half as the French found their feet and scored two exceptional tries to take control of the contest.

First it was a magnificent run by Virimi Vakatawa that set up the try, with Gael Fickou – easily the man of the match for France, finishing the move off in style to go against the run of play at that moment.

Then a mistake and a dropped ball was capitalised on by the French with the interplay between fullback Maxime Medard and Damian Penaud flummoxing the Puma defence, until Antoine DuPont popped up to go over for his fourth try in his last five matches.

Two penalties by Romain Ntamack saw the French go into the sheds 20-3 up, but the Pumas responded quickly in the second half to make a contest of it, controlling the half with their pack to claw their way back.

Both tries came from lineout drives, as the Pumas pack used their weight to manipulate the French defence into positions where they could drive forward, with first Guido Petti and then Julian Montoya capping the drives by dotting down over the line.

Within three points, Nicolas Sanchez added a penalty and then his replacement Benjamin Urdapilleta drove one home to give the Pumas a one-point lead.

But then Lopez appeared and slotted the drop goal, snatching back the lead for the French as the clock ticked down.

Boffelli had a long range effort that swayed left as it left his boot to not go over, giving the French a chance to close out the game in style. And take the first big bragging points for their World Cup campaign.

SCORERS

France – tries: Gael Fickou, Antoine Dupont. Conversions: Romain Ntamack (2). Penalties: Ntamack (2). Drop Goal: Camille Lopez.

Argentina – tries: Guido Petti Pagadizabal, Julian Montoya. Conversions: Nicolas Sanchez. Penalties: Sanchez, Benjamin Urdapilleta.