France completed an unbeaten Autumn Nations Series campaign after they produced a dominant display to earn a 37-23 victory over Argentina in Paris.
Les Bleus started well, going 7-0 ahead via Thibaud Flament’s try, before the respective fly-halves took over. Los Pumas’ Tomas Albornoz kicked three penalties while Thomas Ramos added two off the tee as the French moved into a 13-9 lead.
That was when the hosts took control as Gabin Villiere’s score and a penalty try, allied by another Ramos three-pointer, opened up a 21-point buffer at the interval.
Argentina improved after the break, as evidenced by tries for Thomas Gallo and Ignacio Ruiz, but they never truly threatened a comeback and Louis Bielle-Biarrey’s effort rounded off a good few weeks for France.
Los Pumas’ big issue has been their consistency – a good performance against a top-tier nation being followed by an absolute capitulation – and that theme effectively continued in Paris on Friday.
Felipe Contepomi’s men were confident going into this encounter after running Ireland close last weekend, but they were blown away in the final 10 minutes of the first half.
The opening stages had indicated what Les Bleus were capable of as a series of powerful carries put the visiting defence under pressure, allowing Antoine Dupont to send Flament across the whitewash.
At that point, the South Americans were already down to 14 men after Julian Montoya had been sin-binned for twisting the leg of Jean-Baptiste Gros, which ended the prop’s game, and those discipline issues were a significant factor in their downfall.
To Argentina’s credit, they did battle back, almost scoring through number eight Joaquin Oviedo, but it was the boot of Albornoz that ultimately chipped away at the lead.
The away side’s fly-half kicked three penalties to Ramos’ two as they went into the final eight minutes of the half just four points in arrears, but they then imploded.
Although the Argentines could not do too much about Villiere’s try, set up by Leo Barre’s excellent off-load, they made a catastrophic error for France’s third try.
More specifically, it was Juan Martin Gonzalez who was at fault. Once again, Les Bleus did superbly to get into position as Dupont’s deft kick sent Ramos clear before the pivot dabbed it over the top for Bielle-Biarrey to chase.
It was a foot race between the French wing and the speedy Argentinian flanker. Gonzalez appeared to have won that duel but then panicked and knocked the ball deliberately forward, leading to a yellow card and penalty try.
Ramos then made matters worse for the visitors by adding a three-pointer on the stroke of half-time, giving Los Pumas so much to do in the second period.
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They set about their task impressively, battering away at Les Bleus’ line, and the pressure eventually resulted in Gallo crossing the whitewash.
With 25 minutes remaining, the visitors potentially had a route back into the game but, once again, they shot themselves in the foot. Argentina conceded possession on their own 22 after an attempted box-kick was charged down and France – for the umpteenth time – ruthlessly took advantage of that mistake.
Fabien Galthie’s men found the space on the left-hand side and gave it to Bielle-Biarrey, who saw a chance in behind and kicked ahead. Just like he did against the All Blacks the week prior, the youngster won the race decisively to seal the victory.
Argentina did have the final word on the scoreboard through Ruiz, but France deservedly emerged with a comfortable win.
The teams
France: 15 Leo Barre, 14 Gabin Villiere, 13 Gael Fickou, 12 Yoram Moefana, 11 Louis Bielle-Biarrey, 10 Thomas Ramos, 9 Antoine Dupont, 8 Charles Ollivon, 7 Paul Boudehent, 6 Francois Cros, 5 Emmanuel Meafou, 4 Thibaud Flament, 3 Uini Atonio, 2 Peato Mauvaka, 1 Jean-Baptiste Gros.
Replacements: 16 Julien Marchand, 17 Reda Wardi, 18 Georges-Henri Colombe, 19 Alexandre Roumat, 20 Mickael Guillard, 21 Marko Gazzotti, 22 Nolann Le Garrec, 23 Emilen Gailleton
Argentina: 15 Juan Cruz Mallia, 14 Rodrigo Isgro, 13 Lucio Cinti, 12 Matias Moroni, 11 Bautista Delguy, 10 Tomas Albornoz, 9 Gonzalo Garcia, 8 Joaquin Oviedo, 7 Juan Martin Gonzalez, 6 Pablo Matera, 5 Pedro Rubiolo, 4 Guido Petti, 3 Joel Sclavi, 2 Julian Montoya, 1 Thomas Gallo
Replacements: 16, Ignacio Ruiz, 17 Ignacio Calles, 18 Francisco Gomez Kodela, 19 Franco Molina, 20 Marcos Kremer, 21 Lautaro Bazan Velez, 22 Santi Carreras, 23 Mateo Carreras
Referee: Luke Pearce (RFU)
Assistant Referees: Andrea Piardi (FIR), Morné Ferreira (SARU)
TMO: Ian Tempest (RFU)
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