Rugby-France beat Argentina to wrap up perfect autumn series
Adds quotes
By Julien Pretot
PARIS, Nov 22 (Reuters) -Francewrapped up their autumn nations series in style with a 37-23 victory against Argentina for their third win in as many tests at the Stade de France on Friday.
Six days after beating New Zealand 30-29, Fabien Galthie's side were never in real trouble against the Pumas, with a penalty try and tries by Thibaud Flament, Gabin Villiere and Louis Bielle-Biarrey while Thomas Ramos had another perfect kicking day with 15 points.
Argentina scored second-half tries by Thomas Gallo and Ignacio Ruiz, with Tomas Albornoz kicking the rest of their points, but lacked discipline to challenge Les Bleus a week after a 22-19 defeat to Ireland.
France, who also beat Japan in their first outing earlier this month, will now be the favourites for the Six Nations, which starts on Jan. 31.
Coach Galthie drew positives from the series, with a lot of turnover, after France were the only team from the northern hemisphere to win all their tests.
"We had decided to make changes because that test was coming only six days after the All Blacks," he said.
"There is a lot of competition in this squad and it's good for everyone. We had a weird year after the World Cup but for this series we had the best possible team of the moment," he added, already looking towards the 2027 World Cup.
"Until then we only have 30 tests. It seems a lot but it's coming quickly," he said.
Argentina put the early pressure, working through the phases to wear down the French defence but the hosts held firm and were first on the scoreboard when Flament powered over.
The Pumas were down to 14 after Julian Montoya picked up a yellow card for foul play in a ruck that resulted in prop Jean-Baptiste Gros being replaced by Reda Wardi after three minutes with a leg injury.
Albornoz kicked three penalties, while Ramos slotted in two more as Argentina reduced the arrears to 13-9.
But France were on the attack again and Villiere dived over after a long domination spell and Ramos converted to extend the lead to 11 points.
It was 27-9 shortly afterwards with France being awarded a penalty try when Juan Martin Gonzalez volleyed the ball forward as last defender to deny Louis Bielle-Biarrey.
Gonzalez was sin-binned and Ramos added a penalty to put France 30-11 at halftime.
Just like against Ireland a week ago, Argentina did not give up and pulled a try back when Gallo bundled over, only for France to dash the visitors' hopes of a comeback with Bielle-Biarrey collecting his own grazing kick for France's fourth try.
The Argentina forwards kept France under pressure, however, and Ruiz touched down as Les Bleus suffered physically. But the hosts' defence held firm to preserve a deserved win, with a couple of dodgy lineouts the only weakness they showed on the night.
Reporting by Julien Pretot; Editing by Pritha Sarkar
Latest News
Disclaimer: The XM Group entities provide execution-only service and access to our Online Trading Facility, permitting a person to view and/or use the content available on or via the website, is not intended to change or expand on this, nor does it change or expand on this. Such access and use are always subject to: (i) Terms and Conditions; (ii) Risk Warnings; and (iii) Full Disclaimer. Such content is therefore provided as no more than general information. Particularly, please be aware that the contents of our Online Trading Facility are neither a solicitation, nor an offer to enter any transactions on the financial markets. Trading on any financial market involves a significant level of risk to your capital.
All material published on our Online Trading Facility is intended for educational/informational purposes only, and does not contain – nor should it be considered as containing – financial, investment tax or trading advice and recommendations; or a record of our trading prices; or an offer of, or solicitation for, a transaction in any financial instruments; or unsolicited financial promotions to you.
Any third-party content, as well as content prepared by XM, such as: opinions, news, research, analyses, prices and other information or links to third-party sites contained on this website are provided on an “as-is” basis, as general market commentary, and do not constitute investment advice. To the extent that any content is construed as investment research, you must note and accept that the content was not intended to and has not been prepared in accordance with legal requirements designed to promote the independence of investment research and as such, it would be considered as marketing communication under the relevant laws and regulations. Please ensure that you have read and understood our Notification on Non-Independent Investment. Research and Risk Warning concerning the foregoing information, which can be accessed here.
