France beats undisciplined Argentina 37-23

France punished an undisciplined Argentina by 37-23 on Friday, November 22 and swept its three autumn rugby tests.

First-half tries from lock Thibaud Flament and right winger Gabin Villière, a penalty try and Thomas Ramos’ unerring goalkicking put Les Tricolores out of reach by halftime at 30-9 up.

Left winger Louis Bielle-Biarrey added France’s fourth try in the second half while Argentina rallied with tries by prop Thomas Gallo and replacement hooker Ignacio Ruiz to trail 37-23 with 10 minutes left, but ran out of time at Stade de France.

Fabien Galthié’s side scored freely in the three tests, routing Japan 52-12 and edging New Zealand 30-29.

“I would like to praise all the players, for me there are only positives to take,” the coach said. “They are all winners for me.”

He also warned players who complained about being left out, after flyhalf Matthieu Jalibert reportedly asked to be left out of the New Zealand game because he did not want to be a reserve.

“It’s very much a team sport. The squad is bigger than any individual,” Galthié said. “Players are here to strengthen the squad. Let there be no confusion about that.”

Felipe Contepomi’s Pumas didn’t carry their Rugby Championship form into the autumn. They crushed Italy 57-17 and just failed to beat Ireland for the first time.

The Pumas beat France in July in Buenos Aires but they have not won in France for 10 years.

Despite an early harsh-looking yellow card to captain Julian Montoya for twisting the leg of Jean-Baptiste Gros, who had to leave the game, Argentina was in the contest at 13-9 down after 33 minutes. Then came a dramatic seven minutes.

Villiere smashed over from an offload by fullback Leo Barre, and consecutive chipped kicks by Antoine Dupont and Ramos set up Bielle-Biarrey to score until Pumas flanker Juan Martin Gonzalez batted the ball away, but forward. France received a penalty try and Gonzalez was yellow-carded.

Right on halftime, Ramos’ fifth successful goal kick made it a commanding 30-9 and swept him past Thierry Lacroix, Morgan Parra and Dimitri Yachvili on France’s all-time list of highest point-scorers. Ramos’ next goal kick, perhaps in the Six Nations, will lift him past Christophe Lamaison’s 380 points with only Frederic Michalak’s 436 higher.

The second half was better from Argentina and an attacking lineout led to Gallo’s try, which flyhalf Tomas Albornoz converted.

But the Pumas hopes of a comeback were dashed moments later when Bielle-Biarrey chased down his own kick in the left corner for tries in every test this autumn.

Both kickers were perfect off the tee, with Ramos nailing six for 15 points and Albornoz five for 13 points.

“It’s one of our strengths having players who can perform in different positions,” said Ramos, who has converted from fullback into a slick flyhalf without losing any of his kicking accuracy.

France had one last attack and thought it scored another try, but replacement center Emilien Gailleton’s effort down the left was ruled out for a knock-on in the buildup.

“Three matches, three wins, and we finished things off here in front of our fans. What more could you ask for?” posed flanker Charles Ollivon, who made 16 tackles.

“We knew Argentina would be aggressive, they seem to be even more so when they come to play here. We faced up to it.”