France hold off spirited USA

France consolidated their position amongst the front-runners in Pool C courtesy of a 33-9 victory against the USA in Fukuoka City on Wednesday.

Despite the big winning margin, Les Bleus were made to work very hard for this result as the game was evenly balanced for long periods and they only secured their win when they scored three tries late in the second half.

But, in the end, France’s class came through as they outscored the USA by five tries to none with Yoann Huget, Alivereti Raka, Gael Fickou, Baptiste Serin and Jefferson Poirot crossing the whitewash while Camille Lopez added three conversions and Thomas Ramos one.

For the USA, who were competitive for long periods, AJ MacGinty succeeded with three penalties.

Les Bleus dominated from the outset and opened the scoring in the sixth minute when Huget gathered a teasing chip kick from Lopez inside the Eagles’ 22 before crossing for a deserved try.

Lopez added the extras but despite that setback, the USA played well during the next 15 minutes and narrowed the gap to four points when MacGinty slotted his first penalty midway through the half.

France regained the initiative, however, and were rewarded with their second try in the 24th minute – Raka crossing the whitewash this time, after collecting a perfectly weighted cross-field kick from Lopez deep inside his opponents’ half.

Lopez was off target with his conversion attempt which meant France were leading 12-3 and the rest of the half would prove to be frustrating for them as they battled to gain the ascendancy.

The USA showed considerable improvement as the half progressed while France were penalised on several occasions during that period.

On the half-hour mark, Les Bleus’ forwards were blown up for straying offside on defence and MacGinty added his second penalty.  That meant the match was evenly balanced at half-time with France holding on to a slender 12-6 lead.

FT at #RWCFukuoka @FranceRugby 🇫🇷 defeat @USARugby 🇺🇸 in Pool C #RWC2019 #FRAvUSA pic.twitter.com/bGwpCuhONL

— Rugby World Cup (@rugbyworldcup) October 2, 2019

Although they had the bulk of the possession after the restart, Les Bleus continued to be frustrated and battled to take control of the match.

In the 50th minute, France thought they had extended their lead when Raka crossed the whitewash after gathering a long pass from Sofiane Guitoune inside the Eagles’ 22, but Raka was called back by referee Ben O’Keeffe, who ruled that Guitoune’s pass went forward.

The next 15 minutes was evenly contested and the USA narrowed the gap to three points when MacGinty succeeded with his third shot off the kicking tee, after Maxime Medard held onto the ball at a ruck.

France came alive after that penalty and were soon camped inside the Eagles’ half.  And after setting up 15 phases, the ball came out to Fickou, who crashed over for their third try from close range in the 67th minute.

It was all France during the game’s closing stages and in the 70th minute Serin broke through the USA’s defence before crossing for his side’s bonus point try with Lopez’s conversion putting more daylight between his side and the Eagles.

Les Bleus continued to dominate and just before the end Poirot sealed their win when he crossed the whitewash off the back of a lineout drive deep inside USA territory.

The scorers:

For France:
Tries:  Huget, Raka, Fickou, Serin, Poirot
Cons:  Ramos, Lopez 3

For USA:
Pens:  MacGinty 3

France:  15 Thomas Ramos, 14 Alivereti Raka, 13 Sofiane Guitoune, 12 Gael Fickou, 11 Yoann Huget, 10 Camille Lopez, 9 Maxime Machenaud, 8 Louis Picamoles (c), 7 Yacouba Camara, 6 Arthur Iturria, 5 Paul Gabrillagues, 4 Bernard Le Roux, 3 Emerick Setiano, 2 Camille Chat, 1 Cyril Baille
Replacements:  16 Guilhem Guirado, 17 Jefferson Poirot, 18 Rabah Slimani, 19 Sebastien Vahaamahina, 20 Gregory Alldritt, 21 Baptiste Serin, 22 Romain Ntamack, 23 Maxime Medard

USA:  15 Mike Teo, 14 Blaine Scully (c), 13 Marcel Brache, 12 Bryce Campbell, 11 Martin Iosefo, 10 AJ MacGinty, 9 Shaun Davies, 8 Cam Dolan, 7 Hanco Germishuys, 6 Tony Lamborn, 5 Nick Civetta, 4 Nate Brakeley, 3 Titi Lamositele, 2 Joe Taufetee, 1 Eric Fry
Replacements:  16 Dylan Fawsitt, 17 Olive Kilifi, 18 Paul Mullen, 19 Greg Peterson, 20 Ben Pinkelman, 21 Ruben de Haas, 22 Will Magie, 23 Thretton Palamo

Referee:  Ben O’Keeffe (New Zealand)
Assistant Referees:  Wayne Barnes (England), Shuhei Kubo (Japan)
TMO:  Rowan Kitt (England)