The French opened the scoring in the 4th minute against Japan thanks to a Louis Bielle-Biarrey arrow. The UBB winger, after a kicking game to follow, took advantage of Tuitama's hesitation to score the first try for the Blues and his 7th with the XV of France.
The Blues started their match against Japan perfectly. After only four minutes of play, Antoine Dupont's teammates were already leading 5-0 thanks to Louis Bielle-Biarrey's 7th international try. An achievement which must have been the subject of a fairly lengthy check by Damián Schneider with his video referee. The Argentine referee wanted to check if the young Frenchman had indeed flattened in the Japanese goal, and if the UBB arrow had not made a mistake in his duel with the Japanese full-back Tuitama.
In the images, if the winger in the red helmet seems to bother his opponent with a slight push behind his back, there is no doubt about the end of the action: Bielle-Biarrey keeps good control of the ball and gets ahead of Tuitama to flatten. And this, even if the ball accidentally touches his chest after the Japanese's hesitation. On this subject, the rule is clear, as a former international referee reminds us: “There is only forward between the hand and shoulder. When the ball hits the head or torso, it is not considered forward.”
After this dream start, the French continued to perform against the Japanese who were limited and quickly countered by the speed of Fabien Galthié's men. Louis Bielle-Biarrey even scored a double (the 3rd French try) in a style identical to his first: a little grazing play on his wing before making the difference thanks to his speed and taking advantage of a new procrastination from the unfortunate rear Tuitama.
France
