French right-wing Aurelien Rougerie scored two tries as his side stuttered past a determined Japanese outfit in Townsville. Don't be fooled by the scoreline of 51-29, Japan gave Les Bleus a serious go in their Rugby World Cup Pool B clash.
It was a stuttering performance from the French, who on several occasions needed to move out of neutral with the Japanese threatening to cause an upset.
While the French forwards were always too strong and the French backs always to quick and classy for their opponents, credit must go to the Japanese for continuing to play positive and entertaining rugby and never reverting to negative and spoiling tactics to stem the tide.
France completely dominated possession from the outset and in the first 10 minutes they had 80 percent of the ball. By half-time that statistic had settled on 63 percent in favour of the French and at the end that is where it evened out.
But despite seeing most of the quality possession, France did not enjoy such a huge advantage in the territorial stakes. This was largely due to those periodical lapses when they would either waste opportunities with poor handling or some determined Japanese defence.
French captain Fabian Galthié admitted afterwards that his team was nowhere near where they should be. "We need to be more consistent in what we do and not play in fits and starts," he said.
Japan, who looked lively from the start, certainly got plenty of reward for their effort and in the fourth minute fullback Toru Kurihara kicked a penalty from 40 metres out to give Japan a 3-0 lead.
But France hit straight back with tries by fly-half Frédéric Michalak (in the fifth minute) and wing Aurélien Rougerie (eighth minute). Michalak added the conversions to take the score out to 14-3.
In the 11th minute Kurihara slotted another penalty to narrow the gap to 14-6, but two Michalak penalties -- in the 16th minute and 27th minutes -- saw the score move out to 20-6.
But then the French went to sleep again ...
From a line-out, George Konia -- who plays club rugby in Japan with French centre Tony Marsh's twin brother -- sliced through the French defence after getting an inch-perfect pass from fly-half Andrew Miller on the angle, powering over for a score, much to the delight of the crowd.
The conversion by Kurihara and a penalty by the Japanese fullback in the 40th minute narrowed the score to 20-16 at the break.
Another Kurihara in the 45th minute narrowed the gap to just one point -- 20-19.
But then tries by Fabien Pelous (from a maul in the 48th minute) and wing Christophe Dominici (a brilliant inside pass in the 52nd minute), along with two Michalak conversions and a penalty saw the French race out to a 37-19 lead.
A 64th minute penalty by Kurihara, however, which saw him maintain his 100 percent kicking record, made it 37-22 to France.
But then followed another brilliant French try, when Dominici fed Rougerie, who cut inside and ran through four tackles to power in from 22 metres out in the 68th minute. Michalak added the conversion for a 44-22 lead.
The Japanese scored their second try in the 71st minute when wing Hirotoki Onozawa attacked down the left. The French fumbled his kick ahead, and the Japanese pounced, moving the ball out to the other wing for Daisuke Ohata to score in the corner. Kurihara maintained his brilliant kicking form to narrow the gap to 44-29.
But it was the French who had the final say when replacement prop Jean-Jaques Crenca crashed for his team's sixth try in the 76th minute. Gérald Merceron, who came on for Michalak at fly-half, kicked the conversion.
Man of the match: In most games your Man of the match would come from the winning team, but the Japan's fighting spirit was encapsulated by fly-half Andrew Miller's performance. His kicking out of hand was brilliant, with 60-metre touch-finders not uncommon. His footwork was as brilliant, if not better, than anything the French had to show and he often troubled their defence, while his defence never faltered.
Moment of the match: The French scored six great tries and some of them had typical French brilliance written all over them. But in the 32nd minute Japanese centre George Konia sliced through the French defence after getting a wonderful pass from Miller. The angled run is as good a try as you ill ever see.
Villain of the match: No cards, very few penalties and no incidents of real note. No villain(s).
The Teams:
France: 1 Olivier Milloud, 2 Yannick Bru, 3 Jean-Baptiste Poux, 4 Olivier Brouzet, 5 Fabien Pelous, 6 Serge Betsen Tchoua, 7 Olivier Magne, 8 Christian Labit, 9 Fabien Galthie (c), 10 Frederic Michalak, 11 Aurelien Rougerie, 12 Tony Marsh, 13 Damien Traille, 14 Christophe Dominici, 15 Clement Poitrenaud
Reserves: David Auradou, Jean-Jacques Crenca, Raphael Ibanez, Gerald Merceron, Sebastien Chabal
Unused: Pepito Elhorga, Yannick Jauzion
Japan: 1 Shin Hasegawa, 2 Masaaki Sakata, 3 Ryo Yamamura, 4 Adam Parker, 5 Hiroyuki Tanuma, 6 Naoya Okubo, 7 Takuro Miuchi (c), 8 Takeomi Ito, 9 Yuji Sonoda, 10 Andy Miller, 11 Daisuke Ohata, 12 Hideki Nanba, 13 George Konia, 14 Hirotoki Onozowa, 15 Toru Kurihara,
Reserves: Ryota Asano, Koichi Kubo
Unused: Masao Amino, Yukio Motoki, Takashi Tsuji, Masahito Yamamoto, Takashi Yoshida
Attendance: 21309
Referee: Lewis a.
Points Scorers:
France
Tries: Rougerie A. 2, Dominici C. 1, Michalak F. 1, Pelous F. 1, Crenca J-J. 1
Conv: Michalak F. 5, Merceron G. 1
Pen K.: Michalak F. 3
Japan
Tries: Ohata D. 1, Konia G.N. 1
Conv: Kurihara T. 2
Pen K.: Kurihara T. 5
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