France make hard work of Tonga

Late glut of tries fails to disguise poor performance

France beat Tonga 43-8 in Toulouse on Saturday, but it was a performance which will not have pleased Bernard Laporte.

Laporte, who wanted his troops to put their hands up for selection for next week's match against South Africa, instead saw his team lose the first half by a try to nil, and fall foul of playing the opposition at their own game rather than imposing their own tactics upon their opponents.

France also suffered an early injury blow, with Julien Laharrague departing to a knee injury after two minutes.  His chances of playing in next week's test look slim indeed.

Yachvilli put France in the lead with an easy penalty after five minutes, but missed the chance to extend the lead a minute later with a longer-range effort, as the French made the most of a good attacking start.

They nearly got the opening try through Thomas Castaignède after a sweeping back-line move, but they were rocked on the quarter-hour by a try from their opposition.

Tonga fly-half Elisi Vunipola hammered a penalty 60m downfield, and although France took the line-out, the ball went to ground.  It was hacked through, Viliani Vaki reacted faster than all others, and Tonga had the lead -- after a brief consultation with the video referee.

Epi Taione, who had played for Sale the night before and flown over from Manchester overnight, came off the bench after 20 minutes to replace Pila Fifita on the wing.

France kept the pressure on, but could find none of last week's artistry to open up the Tongan defence.  Yachvili landed two further penalties to keep them in the lead, but it was not much, and it was certainly not pretty.

Sione Tu'ipulotu dropped a goal for Tonga to make it 9-8, and although Yachvili made it 12-8 with another penalty, the crowd voiced their disapproval as the half-time whistle went -- even though Vincent Clerc was also denied what looked like a perfectly good try.

France finally got into gear shortly after half-time, after Tongan prop Tonga Lea'aetoa was yellow-carded for his role in a handbag-swinging contest.  The trouble was started by a nasty punch from Rodney Mahe on Yann Delaigue, which may be subject to a later citing.

Thomas Lièvremont scored the first as the pack exploited the numerical advantage to push their counterparts over the line, and Castaignède sparked the second with a terrific burst of acceleration to send Aurélien Rougerie in for the second.  Yachvili converted both, but couldn't convert Clerc's try, which was also scored by feeding of Castaignède's creativity.

Jauzion and Clerc both added injury time scores as Tongan heads fell and superior fitness levels told, but France will have to come up with more than this against South Africa next week.

Man of the match:  Thomas Castaignède was the lone Frenchman who consistently rose above the mediocrity around him.

Moment of the match:  The switch between Clerc and Castaignède for France's third try.  One of those sublime moments from le petit general that have been sadly absent from the game for the last three years.

Villain of the match:  Rodney Mahe, for the punch.  Gratuitous and unwanted.

The scorers:

For France:
Tries:  Lièvremont, Rougerie, Clerc 2, Jauzion
Cons:  Yachvili 3
Pens:  Yachvili 4

Tonga:
Try:  Vaki
Drop goal:  Tu'ipulotu

France:  15 Julien Laharrague (Perpignan), 14 Aurélien Rougerie (Clermont), 13 David Marty (Perpignan), 12 Thomas Castaignède (Saracens, England), 11 Vincent Clerc (Toulouse), 10 Yann Delaigue (Castres), 9 Dimitri Yachvili (Biarritz), 8 Sebastien Chabal (Sale Sharks, England), 7 Yannick Nyanga (Toulouse), 6 Julien Bonnaire (Bourgoin), 5 Jèrôme Thion (Biarritz, captain), 4 Gregory Lamboley (Toulouse), 3 Sylvain Marconnet (Stade Français), 2 Raphaël Ibanez (London Wasps, England), 1 Olivier Milloud (Bourgoin).
Replacements:  16 Sébastien Bruno (Sale, England), 17 Pieter de Villiers (Stade Français), 18 Lionel Nallet (Castres), 19 Rémy Martin (Stade Français), 20 (Biarritz), 21 Frédéric Michalak (Toulouse), 22 Yannick Jauzion (Toulouse).

Tonga:  15 Sione Mone Tu'ipulotu (Newport, Wales), 14 Viliami Fifita (Bayonne, France), 13 Suka Hufanga (Béziers, France), 12 Andrew Ma'ilei (North Harbour, New Zealand), 11 Salesi Finau (Bath, England), 10 Elisi Vunipola (Caerphilly, Wales), 9 Sioeli Nau (Bradford, England), 8 Rodney Mahe (Hukunuku), 7 Christopher Hala'ufia (Rotherham, England)/Ueleni Fono (Fanga Club), 6 Viliami Vaki (captain, Perpignan, France), 5 Milton Ngauamo (Calvisano, Italy), 4 Fakahata Molitika (Llanharan, Wales), 3 Tonga Lea'aetoa (Nottingham, England), 2 Ifalemi Taufaka (Leicester Tigers, England), 1 Soane Tonga'uika (Bedford, England).
Replacements:  16 Viliami Ma'asi (Cornish Pirates, England), 17 Alani Maka (Oyonnax, France), 18 Talite Vaioletti (Lavangamalie), 19 Maama Molitika (Cardiff, Wales), 20 Soane Havea (Marist Club), 21 Fangatapu Apikotoa (Saint-Nazaire, France), 22 Samuela Lisala (Lavangamalie)

Referee:  Rob Dickson (Scotland)
Touch judges:  Mark Lawrence (South Africa), Giulio De Santis (Italy)
Television match official:  Wayne Barnes (England)