All Blacks come from behind against France as debutant scores key try

New Zealand had to come from behind to defeat a dogged France 29-19 at FMG Stadium Waikato on Saturday in a result that wraps up a 3-0 series victory over Les Bleus.

Tries from Will Jordan, Anton Lienert-Brown, Du’Plessis Kirifi and Brodie McAlister, coupled by nine points from Damian McKenzie’s boot, saw the All Blacks prevail.

France were excellent for large parts in Hamilton with scrum-half Nolann Le Garrec scoring 16 points that included a crossing while Antoine Hastoy struck a drop-goal.

The All Blacks were looking to pick up a clean sweep in this series, which has been under the spotlight ever since rumours of France’s squad intentions were made clear.

Scott Robertson’s outfit had to deal with some late disruption to their line-up after Luke Jacobson pulled out injured in the warm-up, which meant Ardie Savea shifted to number eight and Kirifi was handed his first start on the openside.  That freed up a place on the replacements bench where Christian Lio-Willie wore jersey 20.

The game started in entertaining fashion and after an early All Blacks foray, it was in fact France who struck first on nine minutes, Le Garrec scrambling over at the back of a maul on the right wing before converting his own score.  That was an early marker thrown down, confirming that this France team in Test III was a genuine threat.

Clearly rattled, the hosts gift wrapped a further three points for Les Bleus after Savea attempted a chip kick in his own 22 that resulted in Le Garrec nudging it to 10-0.

That penalty took the scoring up a notch in its frequency as on 21 minutes, a smart kick into open space from Cortez Ratima saw wing Jordan win the foot race as New Zealand cut the gap to three points before Hastoy knocked over a smart drop-goal for the French soon after to make it 13-7.  Suddenly, every attack had real potential.

The concern for New Zealand was the frequency France were adding to their tally, as two further Le Garrec penalties after a McKenzie effort made it a nine-point cushion.

Crucially, though, the All Blacks struck with the clock in the red at the end of the opening half when Lienert-Brown slid over the whitewash to make it 19-17 at the interval.

France looked to keep the scoreboard ticking shortly after the restart, but this time Hastoy’s drop-goal attempt was dragged wide before New Zealand looked to counter.

However, tenacious French defence was evident again, typified by Gabin Villiere who won his side a ruck penalty that was also off-target from Le Garrec from distance.

Two lifelines for the All Blacks who then sent on front-row replacements including debutant McAlister at hooker, with boss Robertson eyeing a response from his side.

But France’s resolve in defence was something to admire as they continued to frustrate the hosts, Mickaël Guillard this time denying Patrick Tuipulotu a try out wide.

Finally, though New Zealand got their score when a McKenzie grubber caused chaos in-goal and Kirifi was on hand to gather and ground for the try before the hour.

At 22-19, the match was far from over, but the All Blacks had their noses in front for the first time in the contest.  Les Bleus though were still enjoying opportunities.

As time wore on, however, New Zealand were starting to gain dominance and Dalton Papali’i went agonisingly close to crossing as the hosts had a spell of territory.

Finally, they got their reward as debutant McAlister slid over for a game-sealing try that must have felt incredible after the All Blacks’ lineout had been struggling.

McKenzie would send over the conversion attempt to add the gloss as New Zealand had seen off an impressive France side to take this series in a 3-0 whitewash.

The teams

All Blacks:  15 Ruben Love, 14 Will Jordan, 13 Anton Lienert-Brown, 12 Quinn Tupaea, 11 Sevu Reece, 10 Damian McKenzie, 9 Cortez Ratima, 8 Ardie Savea (c), 7 Du’Plessis Kirifi, 6 Samipeni Finau, 5 Fabian Holland, 4 Patrick Tuipulotu, 3 Tyrel Lomax, 2 Samisoni Taukei’aho, 1 Ethan de Groot
Replacements:  16 Brodie McAlister, 17 George Bower, 18 Fletcher Newell, 19 Dalton Papali’i, 20 Christian Lio-Willie 21 Noah Hotham, 22 Timoci Tavatavanawai, 23 Jordie Barrett

France:  15 Léo Barré, 14 Théo Attissogbé, 13 Nicolas Depoortère, 12 Gaël Fickou (c), 11 Gabin Villière, 10 Antoine Hastoy, 9 Nolann Le Garrec, 8 Mickaël Guillard, 7 Joshua Brennan, 6 Alexandre Fischer, 5 Matthias Halagahu, 4 Hugo Auradou, 3 Rabah Slimani, 2 Pierre Bourgarit, 1 Baptiste Erdocio
Replacements:  16 Gaëtan Barlot, 17 Paul Mallez, 18 Demba Bamba, 19 Romain Taofifénua, 20 Killian Tixeront, 21 Pierre Bochaton, 22 Thibault Daubagna, 23 Émilien Gailleton

Referee:  Angus Gardner (RA)
Assistant referees:  Damian Schneider (UAR), Takehito Namekawa (JRFU)
TMO:  Brett Cronan (RA)
FPRO:  Damon Murphy (RA)

All Blacks clinch series with emphatic victory over France in Wellington

The All Blacks delivered a much improved performance as they clinched an emphatic 43-17 triumph against France in their mid-year international in Wellington on Saturday.

After notching a narrow victory over Les Bleus in Dunedin last week, there was pressure on All Blacks head coach Scott Robertson and his troops but they were full value for this series-clinching win as they dominated for long periods and were more clinical in their execution.

The All Blacks eventually outscored their visitors by six tries to two with Cam Roigard, Ardie Savea, Codie Taylor, Tupou Vaa’i, Will Jordan and Rieko Ioane all crossing the whitewash.

Their other points came via four conversions and a penalty from Beauden Barrett while Jordie Barrett also succeeded with a two-pointer off the kicking tee.

For France, Léo Barré and Joshua Brennan scored tries while Nolann Le Garrec added a conversion and a penalty, and Antoine Hastoy also converted a five-pointer.

The opening exchanges were evenly contested and after absorbing some early pressure from the visitors, the All Blacks opened the scoring in the eighth minute courtesy of a Barrett penalty after Nicolas Depoortère strayed offside on defence.

Five minutes later, the home side extended their lead when Roigard crossed for his try after some brilliance from the All Blacks forwards.

From a lineout just outside France’s 22, the hosts flummoxed the visitors with a move from the set-piece which looked like it was straight off the training ground.

After delivering his throw-in, hooker Taylor came charging around the lineout and made like he was going to take a pass from Christian Lio-Willie only for Savea and Roigard to break around the blindside and the former offloaded to his scrum-half, who cantered in for his score.

Midway through the half, New Zealand were reduced to 14 men when fly-half Barrett was yellow carded for deliberately knocking down a pass from Le Garrec deep inside the hosts’ 22.

Le Garrec slotted the resulting penalty which meant the All Blacks held a 10-3 lead by the 20th minute before Savea went over for another converted try off the back of a lineout drive deep inside Les Bleus territory.

France were then dealt a massive setback when Brennan was sent to the sin bin in the 28th minute for a dangerous tip tackle on Jordie Barrett and the rest of the half was dominated by the hosts, who scored two further tries during that period.

On the half hour-mark, Taylor dotted down in similar fashion to Savea after a strong lineout drive from the All Blacks, before Vaa’i rounded off a spectacular try after the ball went through several pairs of hands in the build-up.

That meant New Zealand had their tails up with the score 29-3 in their favour at half-time.

🇳🇿🇫🇷 ALL BLACKS HAMMER FRANCE IN WELLINGTON TO CLINCH THE SERIES!#NZLvFRA pic.twitter.com/33z6GO6zjb

— Planet Rugby (@PlanetRugby) July 12, 2025

France needed a response and that came eight minutes after the restart when Barré crossed for their first try after running a superb line deep inside the All Blacks’ 22.

The All Blacks did not panic though and in the 56th minute Jordan rounded off in style after Billy Proctor was stopped just short of the try-line in the build-up.

And in the 62nd minute, Ioane got over for his five pointer in the left-hand corner, after running onto a well-timed pass from Jordie Barrett, before Brennan added some respectability to the final score for Les Bleus when he crashed over for his try in the game’s closing stages.

The teams

New Zealand:  15 Will Jordan, 14 Emoni Narawa, 13 Billy Proctor, 12 Jordie Barrett, 11 Rieko Ioane, 10 Beauden Barrett, 9 Cam Roigard, 8 Christian Lio-Willie, 7 Ardie Savea (c), 6 Tupou Vaa’i, 5 Fabian Holland, 4 Patrick Tuipulotu, 3 Fletcher Newell, 2 Codie Taylor, 1 Ethan de Groot
Replacements:  16 Samisoni Taukei’aho, 17 Ollie Norris, 18 Pasilio Tosi, 19 Samipeni Finau, 20 Du’Plessis Kirifi, 21 Cortez Ratima, 22 Timoci Tavatavanawai, 23 Damian McKenzie

France:  15 Léo Barré, 14 Théo Attissogbe, 13 Nicolas Depoortère, 12 Pierre-Louis Barassi, 11 Émilien Gailleton, 10 Joris Segonds, 9 Nolann Le Garrec, 8 Esteban Abadie, 7 Jacobus Van Tonder, 6 Pierre Bochaton, 5 Matthias Halagahu, 4 Joshua Brennan, 3 Georges-Henri Colombe, 2 Gaëtan Barlot (c), 1 Baptiste Erdocio
Replacements:  16 Pierre Bourgarit, 17 Paul Mallez, 18 Régis Montagne, 19 Romain Taofifenua, 20 Cameron Woki, 21 Bastien Vergnes-Taillefer, 22 Thibault Daubagna, 23 Antoine Hastoy

Referee:  Christophe Ridley (RFU)
Assistant Referees:  Nic Berry (RA), Takehito Namekawa (JRFU)
TMO:  Brett Cronan (RA)
FPRO:  Damon Murphy (RA)

All Blacks made to work hard for maiden 2025 victory against rookie French outfit

Scott Robertson’s All Blacks are up and running in 2025 after defeating a spirited France outfit 31-27 at Forsyth Barr Stadium in Dunedin to take a 1-0 series lead.

Much of the build-up to the series opener was dominated by France’s decision to send an inexperienced team to New Zealand, but the Les Bleus rookies rose to the occasion and put up a mighty fight against the All Blacks.

Ultimately, a Beauden Barrett penalty in the final 10 minutes of the match sealed the result for the All Blacks, with the veteran pivot knocking over all five of his kicks at goal.

He converted tries scored by Will Jordan (2), Tupou Vaa’i and Jordie Barrett before Robertson’s men held out a French onslaught to secure the victory.

Mickael Guillard and Cameron Woki crossed for Les Bleus, while Joris Segonds added three points from the tee with Nolann Le Garrec racking up a further nine, but ultimately, it was not enough.

The French were the first on the board as the All Blacks conceded a penalty in the seventh minute, providing Segonds with an easy shot at goal the pivot did not waste the chance to dissect the posts.

Jordie Barrett looked to have scored the opening try of New Zealand this year when the midfielder slid over the line after a marvellous attacking play, but the All Blacks were denied as prop Fletcher Newell was judged to have knocked on the ball in the build-up to the score.

From the ensuing scrum, the French struck as superb full-back Theo Attisogbe skinned Billy Proctor out wide, launching a stunning attack with Beauden Barrett making a great last-ditch tackle that seemingly denied a try.  However, France recycled the ball, and powerhouse forward Guillard thundered over the line to open up a 10-point lead after 17 minutes.

That try seemingly lit the spark for the All Blacks as captain Scott Barrett charged down a kick from Le Garrec, and that turnover of possession resulted in the first try of the year for Jordan, who benefited from a great long ball from fly-half Beauden Barrett, who added the extras.

New Zealand really started to turn the screws in the second quarter of the first half as they dominated the French scrum, earning a penalty for their efforts and subsequently kicked to the line which led to a score for Vaa’i who powered over from close range after several powerful carries from the French pack.

However, Vaa’i conceded a silly penalty at the lineout in the 32nd minute and Le Garrec made no mistake with his kick to make it a one-point game at 14-13.

That did not last long as Jordie Barrett would have the final say of the half as Jordan went from scorer to assister to send the centre over as the hosts led 21-13 at the break.

France came out of the blocks steaming in the second half as Villiere acrobatically dived over the line after an impressive 16 phases from the French.

Villiere produced another moment of brilliance to make a try-saving tackle and turnover, but that did not last long as Jordan scored a second try from the ensuing lineout.

Fabien Galthie started to empty his bench soon afterwards, and it immediately paid dividends as debutant Jaco van Tonder made a stunning linebreak with Woki rounding off the try.

Momentum looked to have swung back into the All Blacks’ favour when Jordan’s offload was judged to have been knocked down by Villiere, who was subsequently yellow-carded.  Robertson’s side went to work from the lineout and after a long passage of attack, Proctor reached out to dot the ball over the line, but he was denied upon review from the TMO, who judged that he spilt the ball over the line.

Again, the TMO would deny the All Blacks as Jordan’s hat-trick score was scratched off after Berry agreed that replacement tighthead Pasilio Tosi obstructed the French defensive line — the third time the All Blacks had been denied.

The All Blacks couldn’t breach the Shaun Edwards’ defence again in the second half as Barrett knocked over a penalty to extend the lead to four points, which sealed the victory.

The teams

All Blacks:  15 Will Jordan, 14 Sevu Reece, 13 Billy Proctor, 12 Jordie Barrett, 11 Rieko Ioane, 10 Beauden Barrett, 9 Cam Roigard, 8 Christian Lio-Willie, 7 Ardie Savea, 6 Tupou Vaa’i, 5 Fabian Holland, 4 Scott Barrett (c), 3 Fletcher Newell, 2 Codie Taylor, 1 Ethan de Groot
Replacements:  16 Samisoni Taukei’aho, 17 Ollie Norris, 18 Pasilio Tosi, 19 Samipeni Finau, 20 Du’Plessis Kirifi, 21 Cortez Ratima, 22 Quinn Tupaea, 23 Damian McKenzie

France:  15 Theo Attissogbe, 14 Tom Spring, 13 Emilien Gailleton, 12 Gael Fickou (c), 11 Gabin Villière, 10 Joris Segonds, 9 Nolann Le Garrec, 8 Mickael Guillard, 7 Killian Tixeront, 6 Alexandre Fischer, 5 Tyler Duguid, 4 Hugo Auradou, 3 Rabah Slimani, 2 Gaetan Barlot, 1 Giorgi Beria
Replacements:  16 Pierre Bourgarit, 17 Paul Mallez, 18 Regis Montagne, 19 Romain Taofifenua, 20 Cameron Woki, 21 Jacobus van Tonder, 22 Baptiste Jauneau, 23 Antoine Hastoy

Referee:  Nic Berry (Australia)
Assistant referees:  Christophe Ridley (England), Takehito Namekawa (Japan)
TMO:  Damon Murphy (Australia)

France crowned 2025 Six Nations champions after fending off Scotland

France claimed the 2025 Six Nations title after they overcame a determined Scotland side 35-16 at the Stade de France in Paris on Saturday.

Tries from Yoram Moefana (2), Louis Bielle-Biarrey and Thomas Ramos, who finished with a 20-point haul, steered Les Bleus to tournament glory in front of their fans.

Scotland battled bravely throughout but missed opportunities and lack of brute force up front meant they were gradually moved out of reach of this superb France side.

Darcy Graham scored Scotland‘s only try of the game while Finn Russell kicked 11 points but Gregor Townsend’s men will rue several missed opportunities on the night.

England were hoping Scotland would do them a favour after their impressive win over Wales moved them above Les Bleus ahead of this final clash of the Championship.

However, France looked on their game from kick-off at the Stade de France as Ramos slotted a simple penalty on four minutes, this after the Scots brought down a maul.

Another maul pull-down led to Jamie Ritchie being sin-binned by referee Matthew Carley after 12 minutes, but Scotland managed to survive the ensuing French onslaught.

That was until the 17th minute when a fine side-step and offload from Gael Fickou on the Scottish 22 sent centre partner Moefana scrambling under the uprights for 10-0.

Then came a moment of controversy as France hooker Peato Mauvaka threw himself into Scotland’s Ben White on the ground, making head on head contact with the scrum-half after the referee’s whistle had blown.  However, his card remained yellow, much to the anger of plenty of supporters of Scotland who believed it should have been a straight red.

Russell would take the three points from the offence but that was soon wiped out by Ramos off the tee, who landed his own shot after Ritchie was penalised for offside.

Scotland were starting to find their groove with ball in hand and crossed the whitewash on 29 minutes when Russell’s inside ball saw Graham slice through and get over.

Russell would level matters at 13-all four minutes before the interval after Jean-Baptiste Gros was yellow carded, but Ramos kicked a penalty of his own on 39 minutes.

Scotland thought they had crossed before the interval when Russell found Jordan who crashed over.  However, Blair Kinghorn had grazed the sideline in an earlier attack.

It was a case of what if and that was only amplified when after an excellent start to the second period, Scotland found themselves under their posts in a flash when a loose pass was snapped up by Romain Ntamack, who passed it on to Bielle-Biarrey who cruised over.  With the Ramos extra two points, France were 10 points in front against the run of play.

Russell would opt for three points on 50 minutes, which made it 23-16, as Scotland had the view there was ample time left, but one wondered if they should have gambled.

France would make them rue that decision as they picked up their third and fourth try before the hour mark as Ramos and Moefana finished well to stretch the lead to 19.

That margin felt like the match had been ended as a contest and so it proved as despite Scotland continuing to chance their arm while France looked to their power game, neither side would trouble the scorers thereafter as Les Bleus subsequently cruised to their first Six Nations title since 2022 as Ireland’s Championship reign is brought to a conclusion.

The teams

France:  15 Thomas Ramos, 14 Damian Penaud, 13 Gael Fickou, 12 Yoram Moefana, 11 Louis Bielle-Biarrey, 10 Romain Ntamack, 9 Maxime Lucu, 8 Gregory Alldritt (c), 7 Paul Boudehent, 6 Francois Cros, 5 Mickael Guillard, 4 Thibaud Flament, 3 Uini Atonio 2, Peato Mauvaka, 1 Jean-Baptiste Gros
Replacements:  16 Julien Marchand, 17 Cyrill Baille, 18 Dorian Aldegheri, 19 Hugo Auradou, 20 Emmanuel Meafou, 21 Oscar Jegou, 22 Antony Jelonch, 23 Nolann le Garrec

Scotland:  15 Blair Kinghorn, 14 Darcy Graham, 13 Huw Jones, 12 Tom Jordan, 11 Duhan van der Merwe, 10 Finn Russell (cc), 9 Ben White, 8 Matt Fagerson, 7 Rory Darge (cc), 6 Jamie Ritchie, 5 Grant Gilchrist, 4 Gregor Brown, 3 Zander Fagerson, 2 Dave Cherry, 1 Pierre Schoeman
Replacements:  16 Ewan Ashman, 17 Rory Sutherland, 18 Will Hurd, 19 Jonny Gray, 20 Marshall Sykes, 21 Ben Muncaster, 22 Jamie Dobie, 23 Stafford McDowall

Referee:  Matthew Carley (RFU)
Assistant Referees:  Karl Dickson (RFU), Eoghan Cross (IRFU)
TMO:  Marius van der Westhuizen (SARU)

Fantastic France thump Ireland despite Antoine Dupont injury as Simon Easterby's side suffer massive blow in search for historic Six Nations three-peat

France turned the 2025 Six Nations on its head as they produced a stunning display to hammer Ireland 42-27 at the Aviva Stadium on Saturday.

Much of the talk beforehand was about Fabien Galthie’s decision to go with a 7-1 split on the bench, but the decision paid off despite seeing their star man Antoine Dupont limp off in the first half and end with a forward in the backline after Pierre-Louis Barassi suffered a head injury.

Maxime Lucu came on for Dupont and was utterly magnificent as Les Bleus built on an 8-6 half-time lead given to them by Louis Bielle-Biarrey’s try and Thomas Ramos’ penalty.

Ireland had actually gone ahead after the break through Dan Sheehan, whose try followed two first-half three-pointers by Sam Prendergast, but the visitors would go on to thrash Simon Easterby’s charges.

They played some superb rugby at times and further tries from Paul Boudehent, Bielle-Biarrey, Oscar Jegou and Damian Penaud took them to a potentially defining Six Nations success.

France moved to the top of the table and, providing they beat Scotland next weekend, will end Ireland’s chances of claiming an unprecedented three-peat.

It was always going to be a brutal encounter and the opening quarter set the tone for the match as both teams went into contact viciously.

Ireland dominated the opening 20 minutes as they kept the French guessing with their dexterity with ball in hand.  Les Bleus did not help themselves by conceding a series of penalties, but the hosts were putting them under severe duress.

Somehow Galthie’s men managed to survive the onslaught with some incredible last-ditch defence and that proved crucial in the end result.

France eventually managed to edge themselves into the contest and, after having a try ruled out for a knock-on following a turnover, they opened the scoring minutes later.

It started with Thomas Ramos and Bielle-Biarrey linking up down the left-hand side before the wing chipped over the top.  Although Robbie Henshaw was there to clean up, earlier in the move Joe McCarthy cynically pulled Ramos back and was duly sin-binned.

With the lock off the field, the visitors took advantage as they mauled towards the line before Dupont spotted space out wide and Bielle-Biarrey was on hand to touch down.

However, the away side suffered what seemed like a huge blow when their talisman was taken off with a serious-looking injury after Tadhg Beirne landed on his leg.

Officials have clamped down on those type of acts over the past couple of years but not this time as it was deemed to have been an accidental collision.

Ireland would take advantage of that let-off as Prendergast’s two penalties to Ramos’ one kept them in the game at the interval.

They then moved ahead as Sheehan’s score from a dominant drive gave the hosts a 13-8 advantage, but from thereon in it was all about Galthie’s side.

The French were utterly magnificent and responded immediately to that effort from the hooker as a brilliant move resulted in Boudehent crossing the whitewash.

In that same attack, Calvin Nash took Barassi high and it resulted in a yellow card for the winger.

France would once again take advantage of the extra man when Penaud instigated a counter-attack and found Bielle-Biarrey on the left.  The youngster still had loads to do but, of course, the special talent found a way, kicking ahead and touching down.

At that point, Ireland were still just about in the game but the fresh French forwards were doing their job and another infringement enabled Ramos to extend the lead from the tee.

All the momentum was with the visitors and their ‘Bomb Squad’ made the desired impact as Jegou touched down from close range.

That was well and truly game over, with Ireland’s Grand Slam dreams fading, but they still wanted to really rubberstamp the win and that came through Penaud, despite a couple of late scores via Cian Healy and Jack Conan.

The teams

Ireland:  15 Hugo Keenan, 14 Jamie Osborne, 13 Robbie Henshaw, 12 Bundee Aki, 11 Calvin Nash, 10 Sam Prendergast, 9 Jamison Gibson-Park, 8 Caelan Doris (c), 7 Josh van der Flier, 6 Peter O’Mahony, 5 Tadhg Beirne, 4 Joe McCarthy, 3 Finlay Bealham, 2 Dan Sheehan, 1 Andrew Porter
Replacements:  16 Rob Herring, 17 Cian Healy, 18 Thomas Clarkson, 19 James Ryan, 20 Jack Conan, 21 Ryan Baird, 22 Conor Murray, 23 Jack Crowley

France:  15 Thomas Ramos, 14 Damian Penaud, 13 Pierre-Louis Barassi, 12 Yoram Moefana, 11 Louis Bielle-Biarrey, 10 Romain Ntamack, 9 Antoine Dupont (c), 8 Gregory Alldritt, 7 Paul Boudehent, 6 Francois Cros, 5 Mickaël Guillard, 4 Thibaud Flament, 3 Uini Atonio, 2 Peato Mauvaka, 1 Jean-Baptiste Gros
Replacements:  16 Julien Marchand, 17 Cyril Baille, 18 Dorian Aldegheri, 19 Emmanuel Meafou, 20 Hugo Auradou, 21 Oscar Jegou, 22 Anthony Jelonch, 23 Maxime Lucu

Referee:  Angus Gardner (Australia)
Assistant referees:  Matthew Carley (England), Christophe Ridley (England)
TMO:  Ian Tempest (England)

France send warning to Ireland with 11-try demolition of Italy

France went some way to answering their critics as they produced a stunning performance to absolutely hammer Italy 73-24 at the Stadio Olimpico on Sunday.

Two weeks after they were heavily criticised for losing to England, Les Bleus took out their frustration on the Azzurri by playing some absolutely spellbinding rugby.

Unlike at Twickenham, everything seemed to go to hand and they ended up crossing the whitewash 11 times.  That was despite going 7-0 behind to an early Tommaso Menoncello score.

Five of the tries came in the first half as Mickael Guillard, Peato Mauvaka, Antoine Dupont, Paul Boudehent and Leo Barre all touched down.

Dupont and Barre would both go over again in the second period while Gregory Alldritt, Louis Bielle-Biarrey, Theo Attissogbe and Pierre-Louis Barassi also got their name on the scoresheet.

Juan Ignacio Brex and Paolo Garbisi followed Menoncello in touching down for the Italians but it was very much France’s day, who set up a mouth-watering clash with title favourites Ireland in the fourth round of the Six Nations.

Les Bleus were criticised for their profligacy against England but that accusation could not be thrown at them in Rome, despite seeing the hosts go ahead after an early Barre try was ruled out for a forward pass.

Thomas Ramos was the player penalised and that error was to prove costly as from the resultant scrum, Brex sent Menoncello through a hole and the young centre did the rest with a brilliant finish.

However, France would soon find their rhythm.  They absolutely dominated the collisions, with the Italian rearguard failing to deal with the ferocity of their opponents, and Dupont duly dictated proceedings.

Guillard was the first player to go over for the visitors as he powered through some weak tackling.  Although a Tommaso Allan penalty took the Azzurri back in front, it was only brief and two quick-fire tries rather encapsulated the game.

The first, a close-range Mauvaka effort from a driving maul was all about the forwards, but the second, which saw some lovely hands by the backline and ended in Dupont touching down, showed the other side of their game.

That beautiful balance was too much for the Italians, even if the hosts themselves constructed a stunning try for Brex just shy of the half-hour mark.

While there were brief moments of class from Gonzalo Quesada’s men, what the French were producing was simply a level or two above.  Everything was in sync and they added two more scores before the break via Boudehent and Barre to move 18 points clear going into the second period.

It was not necessarily game over at that point, given the chances Italy had created in the first half, but their spirit had been broken and France remained dominant throughout the second period.

They were playing some truly wonderful rugby and Alldritt added their sixth try before a stunning Attissogbe off-load allowed Bielle-Biarrey to cross for a seventh.

Italy could simply not stem the haemorrhaging and that man Dupont soon went over for a brace.  This time it was Yoram Moefana with the excellent hands that enabled the great scrum-half to add to his and France’s tally.

To the home side’s credit, they mustered enough of a response for Garbisi to score their third try, but it proved to be a brief respite as Barre joined Dupont on a double.

France did not relent and in the final five minutes, Attissogbe and Barassi rounded off a remarkable performance from Les Bleus.

The teams

Italy:  15 Tommaso Allan, 14 Ange Capuozzo, 13 Juan Ignacio Brex, 12 Tommaso Menoncello, 11 Simone Gesi, 10 Paolo Garbisi, 9 Martin Page-Relo, 8 Lorenzo Cannone, 7 Michele Lamaro (c), 6 Sebastian Negri, 5 Federico Ruzza, 4 Niccolo Cannone, 3 Simone Ferrari, 2 Gianmarco Lucchesi, 1 Danilo Fischetti
Replacements:  16 Giacomo Nicotera, 17 Mirco Spagnolo, 18 Joshua Zilocchi, 19 Riccardo Favretto, 20 Manuel Zuliani, 21 Ross Vintcent, 22 Alessandro Garbisi, 23 Jacopo Trulla

France:  15 Leo Barré, 14 Théo Attissogbe, 13 Pierre-Louis Barassi, 12 Yoram Moefana, 11 Louis Bielle-Biarrey, 10 Thomas Ramos, 9 Antoine Dupont, 8 Gregory Alldritt, 7 Paul Boudehent, 6 Francois Cros, 5 Mickaël Guillard, 4 Thibaud Flament, 3 Uini Atonio, 2 Peato Mauvaka, 1 Jean-Baptiste Gros
Replacements:  16 Julien Marchand, 17 Cyril Baille, 18 Dorian Aldegheri, 19 Romain Taofifenua, 20 Oscar Jegou, 21 Alexandre Roumat, 22 Anthony Jelonch, 23 Maxime Lucu

Referee:  Matthew Carley (RFU)
Assistant Referees:  Paul Williams (NZR), Sam Grove-White (SRU)
TMO:  Eric Gauzins (FFR)

Fin Smith leads England to shock Six Nations win over France

England ended their wait for a victory over a Tier 1 nation with a gutsy 26-25 win over France at Allianz Stadium on Saturday.

Player of the Match Fin Smith’s conversion in the 80th minute after Elliot Daly’s try was enough to get them over the line, but other scores from Ollie Lawrence, Tommy Freeman and Fin Baxter ensured they took away maximum points in their quest for the Six Nations title.

The opening 10 minutes were as cagey as you could imagine, with kick-tennis dominating much of the game, but Les Bleus certainly looked to have the upper hand.

A delicious break from Thomas Ramos created their best chance to capitalise on this dominance, as he sliced open the English defence with ease, however just as France looked to pounce Alexandre Roumat spilled the ball and gave England an easy reprieve.

The full-back had another golden opportunity to put his team into the lead, this time from the tee, but the usually automatic kicker pulled his effort just wide.

England nearly made them pay for this miss too.  A turnover from Tom Curry gave them their first genuine period of possession in France’s half, and strong carries from Tom Willis and Lawrence saw them get to within touching distance of the line, but a pivotal turnover cost them just as they looked to pounce.

With broken field ahead of them, France looked to strike.  Les Bleus almost teleported up the pitch and to within striking distance of the English line, but Ramos’ pass was spilt into touch by the mercurial Antoine Dupont and yet another chance went begging.

This wasn’t the end of it though.  France stole the proceeding lineout and looked to set-up shop in England’s five-metre.  Some solid smash-and-bash from the pack gave them a perfect chance to finally cross the whitewash, however, Damian Penaud lost control of the ball and the chance was gone.

But, France did eventually make their dominance count as Louis Bielle-Biarrey latched onto Penaud’s clever grubber kick to score.

This seemed to bring England back to life, and they hit back with a try of their own through Lawrence as he powered over from short distance.

Momentum was beginning to shift towards the hosts now too, and a cheap penalty from Penaud allowed England to once again march into the 22;  however, a costly knock-on from Curry saw the attack grind to a halt just as quickly as it began.

The opening of the second-half was the complete opposite of the first, but it still had the same theme running through it.  France missed chances.

A sneaky rip from Bielle-Biarrey saw the Bordeaux flier motor towards the England line, but in keeping with the rest of the game, his pass to Peato Mauvaka fell to the floor just as the Toulouse hooker looked like walking home.

Les Bleus eventually did add to their tally, though, as Ramos knocked over two three-pointers to pull his side six points ahead.

This didn’t deter the hosts though, as Freeman soared highest to collect Fin Smith’s pinpoint cross-field kick to dot down and bring them back to within one point.

France hit back with an instant response though as Penaud crossed out wide.  Some delicious play from Ramos, Gregory Alldritt and Bielle-Biarrey marched the visitors down the pitch.  Then, quick hands through the backs found the Bordeaux winger in space out wide, and he made no mistake with the finish.

Again, England rallied after this and came within a whisker of scoring.  A cute delayed pass from Fin Smith saw replacement Jamie George charge through the French line, and he later connected with Tom Curry too, however a heroic tackle from Oscar Jegou denied the Sale man a certain try.

But, a costly French knock-on from the resulting restart gifted England possession back in the 22, however, another missed kick from Marcus Smith meant France got off scot-free.

England weren’t sent packing though, even with Smith’s latest miss of the tee, and they eventually made their pressure count as Baxter burrowed over from short-range.  A change in kicker proved just the ticket too, as Fin Smith’s conversion put England back ahead with less than 10 minutes to go.

This lead vanished in a matter of minutes though, as Bielle-Biarrey finished off a simply sensational counter-attack.  Ramos’ conversion split the uprights, and once again France led by six with just four minutes left on the clock.

With the clock winding down, England had one final throw of the dice, and they made it count as Daly powered over after a clever strike move.  Fin Smith’s conversion sailed through the sticks too, giving England that long-awaited win over a Tier 1 side.

The teams

England:  15 Marcus Smith, 14 Tommy Freeman, 13 Ollie Lawrence, 12 Henry Slade, 11 Ollie Sleightholme, 10 Fin Smith, 9 Alex Mitchell, 8 Tom Willis, 7 Ben Earl, 6 Tom Curry, 5 George Martin, 4 Maro Itoje (c), 3 Will Stuart, 2 Luke Cowan-Dickie, 1 Ellis Genge
Replacements:  16 Jamie George, 17 Fin Baxter, 18 Joe Heyes, 19 Ollie Chessum, 20 Chandler Cunningham-South, 21 Ben Curry, 22 Harry Randall, 23 Elliot Daly

France:  15 Thomas Ramos, 14 Damian Penaud, 13 Pierre-Louis Barassi, 12 Yoram Moefana, 11 Louis Bielle-Biarrey, 10 Matthieu Jalibert, 9 Antoine Dupont (c), 8 Grégory Alldritt, 7 Paul Boudehent, 6 François Cros, 5 Emmanuel Meafou, 4 Alexandre Roumat, 3 Uini Atonio, 2 Peato Mauvaka, 1 Jean-Baptiste Gros
Replacements:  16 Julien Marchand, 17 Cyril Baille, 18 Georges-Henri Colombe, 19 Hugo Auradou, 20 Mickaël Guillard, 21 Oscar Jegou, 22 Nolann Le Garrec, 23 Émilien Gailleton

Referee:  Nika Amashukeli (Georgia)
Assistant referees:  Andrea Piardi (Italy), Damian Schneider (Argentina)
TMO:  Marius van der Westhuizen (South Africa)

Staggering Antoine Dupont thrills as France hammer Wales in Six Nations

Antoine Dupont returned to the Six Nations after a two-year absence to tear Wales apart as France claimed a dominant 43-0 victory in the opening match of the 2025 Six Nations Championship.

The 28-year-old missed the 2024 tournament as he began his journey to Olympic gold, but Les Bleus’ superstar was back in the saddle on Friday and was unsurprisingly influential during his 50 minutes on the field.

Dupont finished with three assists as the French ended the game as a contest after 40 minutes thanks to two tries each from Theo Attissogbe and Louis Bielle-Biarrey.

You could not criticise the effort of the Welsh but they were well and truly outclassed and Julien Marchand, Emilien Gailleton and Gregory Alldritt all crossed the whitewash in the second period to seal the win.

It appeared to be the perfect start for Fabien Galthie’s men but Romain Ntamack slightly took the gloss off the victory when he was correctly sent off for a shoddy hit on Ben Thomas.

A ban duly awaits for Ntamack, likely leaving France without their first choice fly-half for the big Six Nations games against England and Ireland.

Few expected much from the visitors heading into this clash and those fears were eventually confirmed, but for a quarter there were some promising signs.

There was some nice variation from Thomas, Jac Morgan carried hard and early replacement Tommy Reffell was an absolute pest at the breakdown.

France, by contrast, were rather ragged early on, with even the great Dupont not quite finding his range, but that was soon rectified as the game headed towards the 20-minute mark.

The hosts’ half-back duly took centre stage and, after a spell of pressure, the superstar scrum-half’s inch-perfect crossfield kick was collected by Attissogbe and the young wing had the easy task of touching down.

Soon after it became a 14-point buffer as the hosts turned the Welsh defence inside out, allowing Thomas Ramos to throw the ball behind the back of an advancing Josh Adams for Bielle-Biarrey to scamper over.

Wales’ lack of quality was being exposed but so was their lack of belief.  Warren Gatland’s men rather resembled Italy of yesteryear, with their willingness and work ethic admirable but the confidence has ultimately been shot after 13 successive Test defeats.

France could do as they pleased and they had the bonus-point wrapped up before the break.  Evan Lloyd’s sin-binning certainly didn’t help Wales’ cause and with even more space to exploit, Dupont scythed through their rearguard to feed Attissogbe for his second score.

The 20-year-old was then joined on two tries for the game by a player just one year his senior when Bielle-Biarrey crossed the whitewash on the stroke of half-time.

Once again, Dupont played a key role, with his long pass finding the Bordeaux-Begles flyer out wide, but the hard work was done up front thanks to the pack’s dominant driving maul.  That drew in the defence to allow the playmaker to fire the ball out to the left where Bielle-Biarrey was lurking.

After Ramos kicked his fourth conversion, France held a dominant lead at the break and they could enjoy the second period.

The home side maintained their intensity immediately after the interval, albeit this time without the ball, as Wales began to look slightly more threatening in attack.

France withstood their efforts, though, and when Les Bleus put together their first real attack of the second half Marchand touched down from close range.

With the game done and dusted, the match became scrappy, but France still managed to show their vast array of skills as Gailleton finished off a flowing move.

It was all going swimmingly for the hosts but Ntamack was red carded when his shoulder connected with the head of Thomas.

That reckless act did not affect France on Friday, with Alldritt completing the win with a final try, but it could have consequences for Galthie’s side later on in the tournament.

The teams

France:  15 Thomas Ramos, 14 Théo Attissogbe, 13 Pierre-Louis Barassi, 12 Yoram Moefana, 11 Louis Bielle-Biarrey, 10 Romain Ntamack, 9 Antoine Dupont (c), 8 Grégory Alldritt, 7 Paul Boudehent, 6 François Cros, 5 Emmanuel Meafou, 4 Alexandre Roumat, 3 Uini Atonio, 2 Peato Mauvaka, 1 Jean-Baptiste Gros
Replacements:  16 Julien Marchand, 17 Cyril Baille, 18 Georges-Henri Colombe, 19 Hugo Auradou, 20 Mickaël Guillard, 21 Oscar Jegou, 22 Nolann Le Garrec, 23 Émilien Gailleton

Wales:  15 Liam Williams, 14 Tom Rogers, 13 Nick Tompkins, 12 Owen Watkin, 11 Josh Adams, 10 Ben Thomas, 9 Tomos Williams, 8 Aaron Wainwright, 7 Jac Morgan (c), 6 James Botham, 5 Dafydd Jenkins, 4 Will Rowlands, 3 Henry Thomas, 2 Evan Lloyd, 1 Gareth Thomas
Replacements:  16 Elliot Dee, 17 Nicky Smith, 18 Keiron Assiratti, 19 Freddie Thomas, 20 Tommy Reffell, 21 Rhodri Williams, 22 Dan Edwards, 23 Blair Murray

Referee:  Paul Williams (New Zealand)
Assistant Referees:  Chris Busby (Ireland), Jordan Way (Australia)
TMO:  Brett Cronan (Australia)

Ruthless France punish mistake-ridden Argentina as Les Bleus complete unbeaten Autumn Nations Series campaign

France completed an unbeaten Autumn Nations Series campaign after they produced a dominant display to earn a 37-23 victory over Argentina in Paris.

Les Bleus started well, going 7-0 ahead via Thibaud Flament’s try, before the respective fly-halves took over.  Los Pumas’ Tomas Albornoz kicked three penalties while Thomas Ramos added two off the tee as the French moved into a 13-9 lead.

That was when the hosts took control as Gabin Villiere’s score and a penalty try, allied by another Ramos three-pointer, opened up a 21-point buffer at the interval.

Argentina improved after the break, as evidenced by tries for Thomas Gallo and Ignacio Ruiz, but they never truly threatened a comeback and Louis Bielle-Biarrey’s effort rounded off a good few weeks for France.

Los Pumas’ big issue has been their consistency ― a good performance against a top-tier nation being followed by an absolute capitulation ― and that theme effectively continued in Paris on Friday.

Felipe Contepomi’s men were confident going into this encounter after running Ireland close last weekend, but they were blown away in the final 10 minutes of the first half.

The opening stages had indicated what Les Bleus were capable of as a series of powerful carries put the visiting defence under pressure, allowing Antoine Dupont to send Flament across the whitewash.

At that point, the South Americans were already down to 14 men after Julian Montoya had been sin-binned for twisting the leg of Jean-Baptiste Gros, which ended the prop’s game, and those discipline issues were a significant factor in their downfall.

To Argentina’s credit, they did battle back, almost scoring through number eight Joaquin Oviedo, but it was the boot of Albornoz that ultimately chipped away at the lead.

The away side’s fly-half kicked three penalties to Ramos’ two as they went into the final eight minutes of the half just four points in arrears, but they then imploded.

Although the Argentines could not do too much about Villiere’s try, set up by Leo Barre’s excellent off-load, they made a catastrophic error for France’s third try.

More specifically, it was Juan Martin Gonzalez who was at fault.  Once again, Les Bleus did superbly to get into position as Dupont’s deft kick sent Ramos clear before the pivot dabbed it over the top for Bielle-Biarrey to chase.

It was a foot race between the French wing and the speedy Argentinian flanker.  Gonzalez appeared to have won that duel but then panicked and knocked the ball deliberately forward, leading to a yellow card and penalty try.

Ramos then made matters worse for the visitors by adding a three-pointer on the stroke of half-time, giving Los Pumas so much to do in the second period.

They set about their task impressively, battering away at Les Bleus’ line, and the pressure eventually resulted in Gallo crossing the whitewash.

With 25 minutes remaining, the visitors potentially had a route back into the game but, once again, they shot themselves in the foot.  Argentina conceded possession on their own 22 after an attempted box-kick was charged down and France ― for the umpteenth time ― ruthlessly took advantage of that mistake.

Fabien Galthie’s men found the space on the left-hand side and gave it to Bielle-Biarrey, who saw a chance in behind and kicked ahead.  Just like he did against the All Blacks the week prior, the youngster won the race decisively to seal the victory.

Argentina did have the final word on the scoreboard through Ruiz, but France deservedly emerged with a comfortable win.

The teams

France:  15 Leo Barre, 14 Gabin Villiere, 13 Gael Fickou, 12 Yoram Moefana, 11 Louis Bielle-Biarrey, 10 Thomas Ramos, 9 Antoine Dupont, 8 Charles Ollivon , 7 Paul Boudehent, 6 Francois Cros, 5 Emmanuel Meafou, 4 Thibaud Flament, 3 Uini Atonio, 2 Peato Mauvaka, 1 Jean-Baptiste Gros.
Replacements:  16 Julien Marchand, 17 Reda Wardi, 18 Georges-Henri Colombe, 19 Alexandre Roumat, 20 Mickael Guillard, 21 Marko Gazzotti, 22 Nolann Le Garrec, 23 Emilen Gailleton

Argentina:  15 Juan Cruz Mallia, 14 Rodrigo Isgro, 13 Lucio Cinti, 12 Matias Moroni, 11 Bautista Delguy, 10 Tomas Albornoz, 9 Gonzalo Garcia, 8 Joaquin Oviedo, 7 Juan Martin Gonzalez, 6 Pablo Matera, 5 Pedro Rubiolo, 4 Guido Petti, 3 Joel Sclavi, 2 Julian Montoya, 1 Thomas Gallo
Replacements:  16, Ignacio Ruiz, 17 Ignacio Calles, 18 Francisco Gomez Kodela, 19 Franco Molina, 20 Marcos Kremer, 21 Lautaro Bazan Velez, 22 Santi Carreras, 23 Mateo Carreras

Referee:  Luke Pearce (RFU)
Assistant Referees:  Andrea Piardi (FIR), Morné Ferreira (SARU)
TMO:  Ian Tempest (RFU)

France edge the All Blacks in Paris thriller as Scott Robertson’s side lose unbeaten tour record

France handed Scott Robertson his first defeat in six as they made it three successive victories over the All Blacks following a 30-29 success in Paris.

In another Autumn Nations Series thriller, Les Bleus went into the break 17-10 in arrears following tries by Peter Lakai and Cam Roigard, but they hit back in the second period.

Fabien Galthie’s men moved ahead as Paul Boudehent and Louis Bielle-Biarrey touched down and it was a lead they would not relinquish.

That was despite the accurate kicking of Damian McKenzie, who added four penalties when he came on, but successive Thomas Ramos three-pointers was just enough for France as they edged to a win.

Having won their past five matches, Robertson’s outfit came into this game with confidence and, despite an early Ramos three-pointer, they showed why spirits have been significantly lifted in New Zealand.

The visitors manufactured a superb try as superb hands set Ardie Savea free down the left and, after he had fended off the attentions of a couple of defenders, his off-load sent rookie Lakai across the whitewash.

Lakai had come on for Samipeni Finau, who suffered a head injury, but it did not impact the All Blacks as they had the better of the opening half-hour.

With half-backs Cam Roigard and Beauden Barrett dictating things nicely, and the scrum getting to work on the France front-row, the tourists were beginning to control matters.

Les Bleus were already without first-choice props Cyril Baille and Uini Atonio and when Tevita Tatafu was forced off, Georges-Henri Colombe was exposed in the set-piece.

Tamaiti Williams put the big tighthead under significant duress and it was from that pressure which led to Roigard’s try.  Number eight Gregory Alldritt had to pick up the ball from a retreating scrum and the All Blacks scrum-half was on hand to nick it, speed away and touch down.

There were signs that the hosts were beginning to creak, but they managed to respond as the forwards, guided by the typically excellent Antoine Dupont, made ground through the heart of the opposition defence.

Eventually, New Zealand cracked as Romain Buros crossed the whitewash on debut, Ramos converting, to reduce the arrears.

Although Barrett made it a seven-point buffer at the interval, Les Bleus had shown that they could attack the All Blacks right through the middle and they managed to do the same at the start of the second period.

Galthie’s side set up a maul five metres out and rumbled towards the line, allowing Boudehent to touch down.  Ramos added the extras and all of a sudden the pressure was back on New Zealand, who perhaps should have gone into the break with a greater lead.

Robertson’s men initially handled it well, moving the ball through the phases and almost going over in the left-hand corner, but they then began to force the play.

That was demonstrated by Tupou Vaa’i as the lock’s off-load went to ground and was picked up by Ramos.  The fly-half then kicked through and the chasing Bielle-Biarrey absolutely burned Sevu Reece to score.

Unperturbed, the All Blacks looked to hit back and increased the pressure on the French, forcing their opponents to infringe in kickable positions.

After coming on as a replacement, McKenzie was successful off the tee on three occasions, but Ramos’ own three-pointer just kept the hosts in front going into the final 10 minutes.

It set up a tense conclusion but, unlike against England, New Zealand were unable to get over the line.  The respective kickers did trade efforts off the tee in the latter stages, but France managed to maintain that one-point gap.

The teams

France:  15 Romain Buros, 14 Gabin Villiere, 13 Gael Fickou, 12 Yoram Moefana, 11 Louis Bielle-Biarrey, 10 Thomas Ramos, 9 Antoine Dupont, 8 Gregory Aldritt, 7 Alexandre Roumat, 6 Paul Boudehent, 5 Emmanuel Meafou, 4 Thibaud Flament, 3 Tevita Tatafu, 2 Peato Mauvaka, 1 Jean-Baptiste Gros
Replacements:  16 Julien Marchand, 17 Reda Wardi, 18 Georges-Henri Colombe, 19 Romain Taofifenua, 20 Mickael Guillard, 21 Charles Ollivon, 22 Nolann le Garrec, 23 Emilen Gailleton

New Zealand:  15 Will Jordan, 14 Sevu Reece, 13 Rieko Ioane, 12 Jordie Barrett, 11 Caleb Clarke, 10 Beauden Barrett, 9 Cam Roigard, 8 Wallace Sititi, 7 Ardie Savea, 6 Samipeni Finau, 5 Tupou Vaa’i, 4 Scott Barrett (c), 3 Tyrel Lomax, 2 Codie Taylor, 1 Tamaiti Williams
Replacements:  16 Asafo Aumua, 17 Ofa Tu’ungafasi, 18 Pasilio Tosi, 19 Patrick Tuipulotu, 20 Peter Lakai, 21 Cortez Ratima, 22 Anton Lienert-Brown, 23 Damian McKenzie

Referee:  Nika Amashukeli (Georgia)
Assistant Referees:  Matthew Carley (England), Andrea Piardi (Italy)
TMO:  Marius Jonker (South Africa)

Antoine Dupont shines on return, Les Bleus a class apart

France captain Antoine Dupont bagged two try assists in his return for Les Bleus, who dismantled Eddie Jones’ Japan 52-12 on Saturday.

The hosts scored eight tries through Louis Bielle-Biarrey (2), Emilien Gailleton, Alexandre Roumat, Peato Mauvaka, Jean-Baptiste Gros and a double from Paul Boudehent.  Fly-half Thomas Ramos added six conversions from the tee.

Japan could only manage two tries via Harumichi Tatekawa and Tevita Tatafu with Naoto Saito kicking a conversion.

The hosts shot out of the blocks with Bielle-Biarrey the first to score a try after just three minutes.  Ramos did not get the kick on this occasion.

The full-back turned fly-half would not make that mistake again as he had the chance to convert Gailleton’s try which came six minutes later after a lovely cross-kick.

Momentum was well and truly with France despite a few flashy moments from Jones’ Japan.  Les Bleus scored a converted try through Roumat after 18 minutes before Mauvaka rounded out the scoring in the first half with his try in the 33rd minute.

The second period followed the first with Gros scoring after a minute.  However, this time Japan would strike back with their first crossing as Tatekawa scored a converted try in the 49th minute.

As expected France responded a minute later as Boudehent scored two tries, one either side of Japan’s final Tatafu score on the hour mark.

The teams

France:  15 Leo Barre, 14 Théo Attissogbe, 13 Émilien Gailleton, 12 Yoram Morgana, 11 Louis Bielle-Biarrey, 10 Thomas Ramos, 9 Antoine Dupont (c), 8 Grégory Alldritt, 7 Alexandre Roumat, 6 François Cros, 5 Emmanuel Meafou, 4 Thibaud Flament, 3 Tevita Tatafu, 2 Peato Mauvaka, 1 Jean-Baptiste Gros
Replacements:  16 Julien Marchand, 17 Reda Wardi, 18 Georges-Henri Colombe, 19 Mickaël Guillard, 20 Paul Boudehent, 21 Maxime Lucu, 22 Matthieu Jalibert, 23 Gaël Fickou

Japan:  15 Malo Tuitama, 14 Jone Nakiabula, 13 Dylan Riley, 12 Siosaia Fifita, 11 Tomoki Osada, 10 Harumichi Tatekawa (c), 9 Naoto Saito, 8 Faula Makisi, 7 Kazuki Himeno, 6 Kanji Shimokawa, 5 Warner Deans, 4 Epineri Uluiviti, 3 Shuhei Takeuchi, 2 Mamoru Harada, 1 Takato Okabe
Replacements:  16 Kenta Masuoka, 17 Yukio Morikawa, 18 Keijiro Tamefusa, 19 Amato Fakatava, 20 Tevita Tatafu, 21 Shinobu Fujiwara, 22 Yusuke Kajimura, 23 Takuro Matsunaga

Referee:  Damian Schneider (Argentina)
Assistant Referees:  Angus Gardner (Australia), James Doleman (New Zealand)
TMO:  Richard Kelly (New Zealand)

Los Pumas props power past France to seal long-awaited home victory

A spirited Argentina team beat France 33-25 in a frantic Test match in Buenos Aires as new head coach Felipe Contepomi notched up his maiden victory since taking charge of Los Pumas.

The victory was not only Contepomi’s first since taking over from Michael Cheika but also Los Pumas’ first win in Argentina since their 48-17 triumph over Australia in 2022.

It was a profitable day for the props, with Eduardo Bello and Thomas Gallo (2) both scoring for the Pumas, who were also awarded a penalty try, with Santiago Carreras racking up 11 points, including a try and three conversions.

As for Les Bleus, captain Baptiste Serin scored the opener with Emilien Gailleton and Theo Attisogbe also crossing for tries ― Antoine Hastoy adding 10 points from the tee.

Much of the build-up to the match was marred by off-field controversy from the French squad following Melvyn Jaminet’s racist comments on social media and a pair of players being arrested on accusations of sexual assault.

However, the game marked a significant milestone for Pumas flanker Pablo Matera, who earned his 100th Test cap for his country.

But it wasn’t a bright start for the hosts as Les Bleus captain Serin rounded off a lovely flowing attack from a turnover.

Argentina resounded swiftly as prop Bello forced his way over the line from close range as the Pumas pack flexed their muscles.

Hastoy kicked France back into the lead in the 24th minute but it did not last long again as just five minutes later, the Argentine pack lay down a marker. After their struggles in the scrum in Test I, Contepomi rang the changes up front and it had the desired effect as they obliterated Les Bleus’ front-row earning a penalty try on the 30 minute mark.

A bit of brilliance from Carreras saw him slice through the French defence, throwing a lovely dummy and speeding over the line with the resulting conversion, giving the Pumas a 21-10 lead at the break.

Fabien Galthie’s side came out firing in the second half, with Hastoy reducing the lead with a penalty before Gailleton and Attissogbe both crossed for tries in the opening 10 minutes of the second half to take a 21-25 lead.

Replacement prop Gallo quickly got his side back in the lead with a try from close range and doubled up in the 66th minute to take a 35-25 advantage, which they would hold onto until the final whistle, holding out all France’s attacks.

Argentina wrap up their July internationals next week against Uruguay while France return home to rest up before the start of next season.

The teams

Argentina:  15 Santiago Cordero, 14 Bautista Delguy, 13 Matias Moroni, 12 Santiago Chocobares, 11 Mateo Carreras, 10 Santiago Carreras, 9 Lautaro Bazan Velez, 8 Joaquin Oviedo, 7 Marcos Kremer, 6 Pablo Matera, 5 Lucas Paulos, 4 Franco Molina, 3 Eduardo Bello, 2 Julian Montoya (c), 1 Mayco Vivas
Replacements:  16 Ignacio Ruiz, 17 Thomas Gallo, 18 Lucio Sordoni, 19 Matias Alemanno, 20 Pedro Rubiolo, 21 Gonzalo Bertranou, 22 Tomas Albornoz, 23 Matias Orlando

France:  15 Leo Barre, 14 Theo Attissogbe, 13 Emile Gailleton, 12 Antoine Frisch, 11 Lester Etien, 10 Antoine Hastoy, 9 Baptiste Serin, 8 Jordan Joseph, 7 Judicael Cancoriet, 6 Lenni Nouchi, 5 Baptiste Pesenti, 4 Hugo Auradou, 3 George-Henri Colombe, 2 Gaetan Barlot, 1 Jean-Baptiste Gros
Replacements:  16 Teddy Baubigny, 17 Sebastien Taofifenua, 18 Demba Bamba, 19 Posolo Tuilagi, 20 Romain Briatte, 21 Killian Tixeront, 22 Baptiste Jauneau, 23 Leo Berdeu

Posolo Tuilagi channels his inner Jonah Lomu in STUNNING 50-metre try

The youngest member of possibly the most famous rugby family is making waves on the Test scene as French international Posolo Tuilagi showed off his strength to run 50-odd metres for a solo special.

Tuilagi who weighs a whopping 149 kilograms and stands 194 centimetres tall made his Test debut earlier this year in the second-row, quickly proving he is ready for the highest level of the game.

His latest exploits come from France’s clash with Uruguay on their South American tour where he was handed the ball on the halfway line with a little bit of space to work with and boy did he maximise it.

As he got the ball defenders did their best to slow him down but only bounced off the charging bull of a second-row. Tuilagi went on to beat three defenders before the fourth decided not to even attempt tackling him.

It was the kind of try one would see in a mismatched secondary school game, one that had shades of the great Jonah Lomu moving his giant body so fast and so powerfully.

Posolo Tuilagi making an absolute mockery of test rugby pic.twitter.com/37oz8Iwz2v

― Old Downbadians RFC (@OldDownbadians) July 10, 2024

South American tour

France would go on to win the game 28-43 making it two wins from two in South America having beaten Argentina 13-28 despite fielding a youthful team.

Les Bleus’ time in the continent has not been without its drama after Melvyn Jaminet was sent home for making racist remarks in a video posted online. On an even worse note two players ― Hugo Auradou and Oscar Jegou ― were arrested in connection with a sexual assault claim from their time in Mendoza.

The team will need to turn their attention back to Los Pumas who they face this weekend in Buenos Aires for the second Test between the teams.

Baptiste Serin steers youthful side to shock win

A youthful France team put Los Pumas to the sword, claiming a stunning 28-13 victory in Mendoza, Argentina, on Saturday.

Fabien Galthie flexed Les Bleus’ depth as his charges ran in three tries to Argentina’s one, as Felipe Contepomi’s tenure as head coach of the Pumas started with a disappointing defeat.

Tries from captain Baptiste Serin and debutants Antoine Frisch and Theo Attisogbe saw France to a convincing victory, with Antoine Hastoy adding 10 points from the tee ― and Melvyn Jaminet kicking a penalty.

For Los Pumas, skipper Julian Montoya and centre Matias Orlando scored their tries in what was an ill-disciplined performance.

French boss Galthie named six uncapped players in his starting XV, but a late change saw that number bloat to seven, with another on the bench. The total starting caps racked up to just 97, most of which coming from Serin.

Meanwhile, Contepomi named a far more experienced squad, with just one player not representing Argentina at the World Cup last year despite many stars being rested.

This led to a frenetic start to the match strewn with handling errors and turnovers, hefty hits, and abrasive collisions. However, with little cohesion for both sets of players, the sides struggled to make the most of their opportunities.

In fact, it took until the 22nd minute for France to open the scoring and it came after a sustained period of attack and pressure on the hosts with Hastoy eventually taking the tee and knocking over the first three points of the match.

But France almost immediately let the hosts level the scores when Oscar Jegou made a poor no-arms tackle to gift Carreras a shot at goal, which he drilled through the uprights with little fuss.

Argentina looked to have taken the lead for the first time soon after when Martin Bogado chipped over the top and seemed to have scored in the corner but upon a TMO review, Toulon-bound midfielder Frisch had made an excellent tackle to deny the full-back.

The French scrum was steaming along in the first half but it was the lineout that provided the first try of the match but more accurately the brilliance of stand-in captain Serin.

With Antoine Dupont off with the sevens squad chasing his Olympic dream, France still got some magic from the number nine jumper as Serin threw a dummy from the lineout, sliced through a gap, put in short grabber, nudged it on and ― despite an early tackle from Paolo Matera ― managed to dot the ball down over the line while appealing to the referee mid-air for the early challenge. A glorious solo try.

Article continues below

This is such a Baptiste Serin try, I love it! #ARGvFRA pic.twitter.com/BLYZL0fSKk

― Jared Wright (@jaredwright17) July 6, 2024

Hastoy would add the extras from out wide before the fly-half booted the ball into touch a few minutes later as Les Bleus led 10-3 at the break.

A bright start from France in the second half looked to bear some fruit as prop Georges-Henri Colombe thundered the ball down, but the front-rower had a poor poker face and rightly so as he had slammed the ball on the ground well short and denied the try.

But Les Bleus were rewarded soon afterwards as debutant Frisch rounded off a stunning score after another powerful scrum. He cantered through a gap in Pumas’ defence after some lovely hands in close quarters and won the race to the line. Hastoy added another penalty as the young French side extended their lead to 20-3.

However, a penalty kick to the corner gave Argentina a sniff and captain Montoya made the most of it has he ran over the top of winger Lester Etien after a slick dummy driving maul from the lineout. Tomas Albornoz scuffed the extras badly as he attempted to convert.

Again the French scrum dominated, and a brilliant 50:22 from Serin put France back into the Los Pumas 22 after a lovely bit of attack, one poor pass led to Hastoy popping a pass up to Attisogbe running an angle and the rookie powered through three defenders to score a great try.

Replacement full-back Jaminet added a penalty soon after before Orlando pounced to score an opportunistic try and a consolation one as the game was well beyond their reach.

France will play again on Wednesday in a midweek fixture against Uruguay before clashing with Los Pumas again next Saturday.

The teams

Argentina:  15 Martin Bogado, 14 Bautista Delguy, 13 Matias Moroni, 12 Jeronimo De La Fuente, 11 Mateo Carreras, 10 Santiago Carreras, 9 Gonzalo Bertranou, 8 Joaquin Oviedo, 7 Marcos Kremer, 6 Pablo Matera, 5 Lucas Paulos, 4 Matias Alemanno, 3 Eduardo Bello, 2 Julian Montoya, 1 Thomas Gallo
Replacements:  16 Ignacio Ruiz, 17 Mayco Vivas, 18 Lucio Sordoni, 19 Franco Molina, 20 Juan Bautista Pedemonte, 21 Lautaro Bazan Velez, 22 Tomas Albornoz, 23 Matias Orlando

France:  15 Leo Barre, 14 Theo Attissogbe, 13 Emilien Gailleton, 12 Antoine Frisch, 11 Lester Etien, 10 Antoine Hastoy, 9 Baptiste Serin, 8 Jordan Joseph, 7 Oscar Jegou, 6 Lenni Nouchi, 5 Baptiste Pesenti, 4 Hugo Auradou, 3 Georges-Henri Colombe, 2 Gaetan Barlot, 1 Jean-Baptiste Gros
Replacements:  16 Teddy Baubigny, 17 Romain Taofifenua, 18 Demba Bamba, 19 Posolo Tuilagi, 20 Mickael Guillard, 21 Ibrahim Diallo, 22 Baptiste Couilloud, 23 Melvyn Jaminet

Referee:  Chris Busby (IRFU)
Assistant Referees:  Andrew Brace (IRFU), Eoghan Cross (IRFU)
TMO:  Marius van der Westhuizen (SARU)

Thomas Ramos helps France edge England in seven-try Six Nations thriller

A late Thomas Ramos penalty helped France win a thrilling Six Nations clash with England 33-31 in a result that sees them finish the 2024 campaign in second spot.

With less than a minute remaining, the Les Bleus fly-half stepped up from the halfway line and succeeded in nudging his side into the lead before they saw out the game.

France had earlier scored tries via Nolann Le Garrec, Leo Barre and Gael Fickou, with Ramos finishing with 18 points off the tee, missing just one of his eight attempts.

While coming out on the losing side, England will take plenty from the game as their four tries were scored by Ollie Lawrence (2), Marcus Smith and Tommy Freeman.

Ireland may already have clinched the Six Nations title by toppling Scotland but if evidence was needed that this match still mattered it came when Ramos kicked off before the countdown had even begun.

Once the false start had been dealt with, England were greeted with waves of attacks and a challenging opening was compounded when George Furbank departed with a calf injury and was replaced by Smith.

George Ford drew first blood through a penalty and his side were successfully slowing down play to stem the blue tide but there was no stopping the stunning end to end move began by Fickou and finished by Le Garrec.

England were in danger of being swept aside as they scrambled furiously to stop a second long-range strike but a sizeable lead opened up when Ramos kicked his second penalty.

Wing Damian Penaud beat a host of tackles yet made no metres in a crabbing run but it resulted in another opportunity for Ramos and he found the posts once more.

England showed their mettle, however, when Lawrence ran through Fickou on the cusp of half-time for a vitally important try that reduced the interval deficit to 16-10.

And there was better to come as a sweeping move given impetus by big runs from Sam Underhill and Ben Earl ended with a second try for Lawrence.

In a remarkable turn of events, England were now breaking through the home defence at will as Underhill and Earl combined a second time to create the opening before Smith arrived to score.

France now found their second wind and when their opponents eventually ran out of bodies in defence, they crossed through Barre to make it a one-point game heading into the final quarter.

With control restored, the 2023 World Cup hosts conjured a third try by Fickou that was born out of Theo Dan’s line-out overthrow.

But there was yet another twist as England staged a well-constructed attack that led to an overlap, providing a simple run in for Freeman.

Yet, with the Test seemingly won, up stepped Ramos to decide otherwise.

The teams

France:  15 Leo Barre, 14 Damian Penaud, 13 Gaël Fickou, 12 Nicolas Depoortere, 11 Louis Bielle-Biarrey, 10 Thomas Ramos, 9 Nolann Le Garrec, 8 Gregory Alldritt (c), 7 Charles Ollivon, 6 François Cros, 5 Emmanuel Meafou, 4 Thibaud Flament, 3 Uini Atonio, 2 Julien Marchand, 1 Cyril Baille
Replacements:  16 Peato Mauvaka, 17 Sebastien Taofifenua, 18 Georges-Henri Colombe, 19 Romain Taofifenua, 20 Alexandre Roumat, 21 Paul Boudehent, 22 Maxime Lucu, 23 Yoram Moefana

England:  15 George Furbank, 14 Tommy Freeman, 13 Henry Slade, 12 Ollie Lawrence, 11 Elliot Daly, 10 George Ford, 9 Alex Mitchell, 8 Ben Earl, 7 Sam Underhill, 6 Ollie Chessum, 5 George Martin, 4 Maro Itoje, 3 Dan Cole, 2 Jamie George (c), 1 Ellis Genge
Replacements:  16 Theo Dan, 17 Joe Marler, 18 Will Stuart, 19 Ethan Roots, 20 Alex Dombrandt, 21 Danny Care, 22 Marcus Smith, 23 Manu Tuilagi

Referee:  Angus Gardner (Australia)
Assistant Referees:  Nika Amashukeli (Georgia), Damian Schneider (Argentina)
TMO:  Ben Whitehouse (Wales)

France beat Wales to ease pressure on Fabien Galthie

France responded to their recent criticism with a fine 45-24 victory over Wales at the Principality Stadium in another excellent Six Nations encounter.

Head coach Fabien Galthie has been under pressure following a disappointing tournament so far, but this was a much-improved display.

The teams were closely matched going into the interval, with Les Bleus edging 20-17 ahead through Gael Fickou and Nolann Le Garrec tries, while Thomas Ramos added 10 points off the tee.

However, they were behind in the early stages of the second period when Joe Roberts touched down, adding to earlier efforts from Rio Dyer and Tomos Williams.

That could have been a hammer blow for the French, who have been heavily criticised during the 2024 Six Nations, but they simply upped the intensity.

The replacements made a huge impact and three of those ― Georges-Henri Colombe, Romain Taofifenua and Maxime Lucu ― crossed the whitewash to seal a priceless win.

It condemned Wales to a fourth defeat in a row in this year’s competition, with Warren Gatland’s men hoping to avoid the wooden spoon against Italy next weekend.

Wales led by a point inside the closing quarter, but they have now lost 13 of their last 15 Six Nations games, and it is 21 years since Gatland’s fellow New Zealander Steve Hansen oversaw a campaign when they failed to win a match.

But that scenario could now unfold, with Italy appearing in stronger shape than Wales after beating Scotland and drawing with France, who finish their Six Nations season against England in Lyon next weekend.

Wales were dealt a late injury blow when hooker Ryan Elias withdrew due to hamstring tightness, so Elliot Dee won his 50th cap in the starting line-up and Test rookie Evan Lloyd featured among the replacements.

Sam Costelow kicked Wales into a third-minute lead, and although that was immediately cancelled out by a Ramos penalty, France’s defence was quickly cut open.

Wales attacked impressively, with Dee and lock Will Rowlands prominent, but no-one tracked Dyer and he sprinted 35 metres unopposed to touch down, before Costelow’s conversion opened up a 10-3 lead.

There was am immediate concern for Wales, though, when the game’s first scrum saw the Welsh front-row mangled into a horrible shape and Ramos kicked an easy penalty.

It gave France momentum, and they stung Wales midway through the opening half after consistent phase-play afforded Fickou a chance, and he brushed off Costelow’s weak challenge to cross wide out, with Ramos converting.

But any chance of France consolidating their advantage was quickly undone when centre Owen Watkin’s half-break exposed Ramos in defence and Williams claimed another opportunist score, again converted by Costelow.

🙌 Another incredible Six Nations game this weekend!#GuinnessM6N #WALvFRApic.twitter.com/hPIeGvBmPU

― Planet Rugby (@PlanetRugby) March 10, 2024

The rollercoaster contest had no obvious pattern, and Fickou set up a second French try 10 minutes before half-time when his strong carrying was rewarded by Le Garrec’s finish. Ramos’ conversion meant that France led 20-17.

Wales counter-attacked as the half drew to a close, but they could only reflect on what might have been after number Aaron Wainwright dropped Williams’ pass when the French defence was again stretched.

The try spree continued shortly after half-time, with Wales moving back in front following strong approach work by Costelow and Williams that created an opening for Roberts to score. Costelow’s touchline conversion left France four points behind.

The visitors looked to have gone back in front following a sustained spell of pressure, but lock Thibaud Flament was adjudged to have dropped the ball as he tried to touch down and Wales escaped after referee Luke Pearce had originally awarded the score.

A Ramos penalty made it a one-point game entering the final quarter and Wales found themselves under prolonged pressure before cracking 15 minutes from time as Colombe crashed over and Ramos converted.

It got worse for Wales as Taofifenua charged down Gareth Davies’ attempted clearance to secure a bonus-point triumph and there was no way back for the home side as Lucu’s late score compounded their misery.

The teams

Wales:  15 Cameron Winnett, 14 Josh Adams, 13 Joe Roberts, 12 Owen Watkin, 11 Rio Dyer, 10 Sam Costelow, 9 Tomos Williams, 8 Aaron Wainwright, 7 Tommy Reffell, 6 Dafydd Jenkins (c), 5 Adam Beard, 4 Will Rowlands, 3 Keiron Assiratti, 2 Elliot Dee, 1 Gareth Thomas
Replacements:  16 Evan Lloyd, 17 Corey Domachowski, 18 Dillon Lewis, 19 Alex Mann, 20 Mackenzie Martin, 21 Gareth Davies, 22 Ioan Lloyd, 23 Mason Grady

France:  15 Leo Barre, 14 Damian Penaud, 13 Gaël Fickou, 12 Nicolas Depoortere, 11 Louis Bielle-Biarrey, 10 Thomas Ramos, 9 Nolann Le Garrec, 8 Gregory Alldritt (c), 7 Charles Ollivon, 6 François Cros, 5 Emmanuel Meafou, 4 Thibaud Flament, 3 Uini Atonio, 2 Julien Marchand, 1 Cyril Baille
Replacements:  16 Peato Mauvaka, 17 Sebastien Taofifenua, 18 Georges-Henri Colombe, 19 Romain Taofifenua, 20 Alexandre Roumat, 21 Paul Boudehent, 22 Maxime Lucu, 23 Yoram Moefana

Referee:  Luke Pearce (England)
Assistant Referees:  Andrew Brace (Ireland), Damian Schneider (Argentina)
TMO:  Ian Tempest (England)

Italy settle for thrilling Six Nations draw with 14-man France in Lille

Italy fly-half Paolo Garbisi missed a late penalty which meant his side had to settle for a 13-13 draw with France in their Six Nations clash at the Stade Pierre-Mauroy in Lille on Sunday.

In the end, both sides scored a try apiece with Les Bleus captain Charles Ollivon crossing the whitewash for the hosts and Ange Capuozzo scored the Azzurri’s five-pointer.

France’s other points came via a conversion and two penalties from Thomas Ramos while Garbisi succeeded with a penalty and a conversion for Italy and Martin Page-Relo also added a three-pointer off the kicking tee.

However, Italy will be kicking themselves as they had a chance to win the game in its dying moments when Garbisi lined up a shot at goal from 38 metres out.

But the ball toppled off its tee and, with just a few seconds left on the shot clock after it had been replaced, Garbisi rushed his kick and struck the right-hand post.

France ― who had won 45 of their previous 48 Test matches against Italy, including the past 14 in a row ― had lost Jonathan Danty to a red card on the stroke of half-time for a high shot on opposite centre Juan Ignacio Brex.

Les Bleus thrashed Italy 60-7 at last year’s World Cup but a repeat of that one-sided encounter did not materialise as the Azzurri underlined their improvement under new head coach Gonzalo Quesada.

Italy remain bottom of the Six Nations, level on points with Wales, while France stay in fourth place, with their title dream over.

France started at breakneck pace and were rewarded with a seventh-minute try.

Italy were unable to stop a series of pick-and-go’s through the middle of their defence and skipper Ollivon got the ball down under a pile of Azzurri bodies.

Ramos dispatched a simple conversion and swiftly added a penalty as France suggested the game could be effectively over by half-time.

Italy spent most of the first half hanging on by their fingernails, and were not helped by a risky strategy of trying to escape their 22 with ball in hand.

Fly-half Matthieu Jalibert was stopped near to the line and 19-year-old lock Posolo Tuilagi almost celebrated his first Test start with a try.

But Tuilagi was held up over the line and the contest took a dramatic turn in the final play of the first half as Italy launched a rare attack.

There was clear head-on-head contact between Danty and Brex, and English referee Christophe Ridley reduced France to 14 men with a yellow card.

Late drama in Lille and it ends all square between France and Italy 😱🙌#GuinnessM6N #FRAITA pic.twitter.com/jfoKEvGZ1T

― Guinness Men's Six Nations (@SixNationsRugby) February 25, 2024

Page-Relo provided further punishment to France from long range, and Ridley confirmed after the interval that the bunker review system had upgraded Danty’s yellow to red.

France made light of their numerical disadvantage as their forwards rallied for Ramos to land his second penalty.

Tommaso Menoncello went close to an Azzurri try, kicking ahead before running out of ground, but Garbisi cut the gap to seven points again with a straightforward penalty.

Italy drew level 10 minutes from time after building through the phases for Leonardo Marin to find Capuozzo with a superb offload.

Garbisi converted but then failed to top it as Italy, with only two Six Nations wins over France since joining the Championship in 2000, fell agonisingly short of a second success in 45 matches.

The teams

France:  15 Thomas Ramos, 14 Damian Penaud, 13 Gaël Fickou, 12 Jonathan Danty, 11 Matthis Lebel, 10 Matthieu Jalibert, 9 Maxime Lucu, 8 François Cros, 7 Charles Ollivon (c), 6 Paul Boudehent, 5 Posolo Tuilagi, 4 Cameron Woki, 3 Uini Atonio, 2 Peato Mauvaka, 1 Cyril Baille
Replacements:  16 Julien Marchand, 17 Sebastien Taofifenua, 18 Dorian Aldegheri, 19 Romain Taofifenua, 20 Alexandre Roumat, 21 Esteban Abadie, 22 Nolann Le Garrec, 23 Yoram Moefana

Italy:  15 Ange Capuozzo, 14 Tommaso Menoncello, 13 Juan Ignacio Brex, 12 Federico Mori, 11 Monty Ioane, 10 Paolo Garbisi, 9 Martin Page-Relo, 8 Ross Vintcent, 7 Michele Lamaro (c), 6 Riccardo Favretto, 5 Federico Ruzza, 4 Niccolò Cannone, 3 Giosuè Zilocchi, 2 Giacomo Nicotera, 1 Danilo Fischetti
Replacements:  16 Gianmarco Lucchesi, 17 Mirco Spagnolo, 18 Simone Ferrari, 19 Matteo Canali, 20 Andrea Zambonin, 21 Manuel Zuliani, 22 Stephen Varney, 23 Leonardo Marin

Referee:  Christophe Ridley (England)
Assistant Referees:  Matthew Carley (England), Craig Evans (Wales)
TMO:  Ian Tempest (England)

Drama filled controversial finish as Scotland come up short against France

There was a controversial finish at Murrayfield as Scotland were adjudged to have been held up over the line, meaning France claimed a 20-16 win in the Six Nations.

Les Bleus looked in danger of starting the championship with back-to-back defeats as they trailed for most of the match after Ben White’s seventh-minute try for Scotland.

However, a moment of Louis Bielle-Biarrey brilliance in the 70th minute allowed France ― who had scored in the first half through Gael Fickou ― to move themselves ahead.

Scotland, who were looking to make it back-to-back Six Nations wins after their triumph over Wales last weekend, staged a late rally and thought they had claimed the victory when they forced their way over the try-line after the 80-minute mark, but following a lengthy TMO review, it was deemed they had not grounded the ball on the whitewash.

Scotland ― already missing key back-three members Blair Kinghorn and Darcy Graham through injury ― were forced into a late change in the back division when wing Kyle Steyn withdrew after his wife went into labour.  The uncapped Harry Paterson, who was not in the initial 23, was enlisted to start at full-back, with Kyle Rowe shifting to wing.

The Scots went ahead with a superbly worked try in the seventh minute, with some quick passing from Duhan van der Merwe, Paterson and Huw Jones on the right paving the way for Toulon scrum-half White, who did well to avoid dropping the ball before holding off the attention of two Frenchmen trying to grapple him as he slid gleefully over the line.  Finn Russell converted.

The visitors got their first points in the 12th minute through a Thomas Ramos penalty.  And they looked certain to get themselves in front three minutes later when Fickou saw a gap on the left and went for it, but Van der Merwe got back to made a vital challenge just before the line, which was deemed by the officials to be legal, much to the frustration of Les Bleus.

The Scots generally looked the more assured of the two sides, however, and a couple of Russell penalties in the 22nd minute and then just before the half hour, nudged them 10 points clear.

A stark reminder of the French threat came in the 31st minute when they worked an opening on the right for Fickou who forced his way over the line despite the best efforts of Jones to halt him.  Ramos converted, bringing his team within three points of their hosts.

The French ― who played the majority of the Ireland game with 14 men last weekend ― suffered a blow two minutes before the interval when Uini Atonio was yellow carded for a dangerous tackle on Matt Fagerson.

The Scots were camped in front of the French line for the closing minutes of the first half but were unable to reward themselves with further points as they went in at the interval with a slender 13-10 lead.

Fagerson ― who had been in the wars in the first half ― was replaced by Saracens back-rower for the start of the second period.

Following his indiscipline, Atonio would have been hugely relieved to return to the fray with no further scoreline damage incurred by his side.

There was a sense that the failure to take advantage of the prop’s time in the sin bin might come back to bite them, but another penalty from Russell in the 59th minute opened up a six-point advantage and eased some of the tension among the home support.

Just as the hosts looked to have a good level of control, France turned the game in their favour in the 70th minute when Bielle-Biarrey raced on to his own kick over the top and touched down on the left.  Ramos converted to put Les Bleus a point ahead.

The full-back then added a penalty in the 77th minute, ensuring the Scots would need a try to won the game.  They momentarily thought they had it in the dying moments before the officials cut short their celebrations.

The teams

Scotland:  15 Harry Paterson, 14 Kyle Rowe, 13 Huw Jones, 12 Sione Tuipulotu, 11 Duhan van der Merwe, 10 Finn Russell (cc), 9 Ben White, 8 Jack Dempsey, 7 Rory Darge (cc), 6 Matt Fagerson, 5 Scott Cummings, 4 Grant Gilchrist, 3 Zander Fagerson, 2 George Turner, 1 Pierre Schoeman
Replacements:  16 Ewan Ashman, 17 Alec Hepburn, 18 Elliot Millar-Mills, 19 Sam Skinner, 20 Andy Christie, 21 George Horne, 22 Ben Healy, 23 Cameron Redpath

France:  15 Thomas Ramos, 14 Damian Penaud, 13 Gaël Fickou, 12 Jonathan Danty, 11 Louis Bielle-Biarrey, 10 Matthieu Jalibert, 9 Maxime Lucu, 8 Grégory Alldritt (c), 7 Charles Ollivon, 6 François Cros, 5 Paul Gabrillagues, 4 Cameron Woki, 3 Uini Atonio, 2 Peato Mauvaka, 1 Cyril Baille
Replacements:  16 Julien Marchard, 17 Sébastien Taofifenua, 18 Dorian Aldegheri, 19 Posolo Tuilagi, 20 Alexandre Roumat, 21 Paul Boudehent, 22 Nolann Le Garrec, 23 Yoram Moefana

Referee:  Nic Berry (Australia)
Assistant Referees:  Nika Amashukeli (Georgia), Jordan Way (Australia)
TMO: Brian MacNeice (Ireland)

Ruthless Ireland make perfect start to Six Nations against 14-man France

Ireland put in an outstanding performance as they kicked off their Six Nations title defence with a clinical 38-17 bonus-point win over France in Marseille on Friday.

It was a ruthless effort from Andy Farrell’s men as they capitalised on Paul Willemse’s early yellow card and then eventual sending off to pick up a maximum on the road.

Ireland‘s tries came via Jamison Gibson-Park, Tadhg Beirne, Calvin Nash, Dan Sheehan and Ronan Kelleher, with Jack Crowley kicking 13 points in a classy game at fly-half.

Damian Penaud and Paul Gabrillagues crossed in defeat for the French on a forgetful night at the Orange Velodrome as they went down to a disappointing Six Nations loss.

The two teams came into a blockbuster showdown seeking to ease disappointment at falling short in their efforts to lift the Webb Ellis Cup in the autumn and having each lost influential captains.

Antoine Dupont’s temporary unavailability, as he focuses on his country’s sevens squad for this year’s Paris Olympics, afforded a start to scrum-half Maxime Lucu, while Crowley was given a chance to stake his claim as long-term fly-half successor to the retired Johnny Sexton.

Farrell’s men began in the ascendancy and led through an early Crowley penalty before Willemse was ordered off for ploughing into prop Andrew Porter.

A relieved Willemse had just learnt his yellow card would not be upgraded to red on review when Gibson-Park latched on to a fine Bundee Aki offload to ensure Ireland capitalised on their temporary numerical advantage.

Three points from France full-back Thomas Ramos’ penalty briefly improved the mood in the stands before Beirne collected Crowley’s pass to easily beat Jonathan Danty and dive over under the posts at the end of sustained Irish pressure.

Willemse’s reprieve proved only to be fleeting as he was dismissed eight minutes before the break following another dangerous challenge, this time on Caelan Doris.

Ireland were in complete control but head coach Farrell would have been frustrated to only hold a 17-10 half-time lead after Penaud, who moments early was repelled by a superb Hugo Keenan tackle, produced a spectacular finish to Matthieu Jalibert’s pass.

𝐀𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐳 𝐋𝐞𝐬 𝐁𝐥𝐞𝐮𝐬 🙌🇫🇷

What a response from @FranceRugby's Damian Penaud#GuinnessM6N #FRAIRE pic.twitter.com/v86eIKJvS7

― Guinness Men's Six Nations (@SixNationsRugby) February 2, 2024

The visitors set aside the setback to restore their 14-point advantage six minutes after the restart as Munster wing Nash marked his first Test start with a memorable maiden try after being freed by Doris.

Deprived of Dupont, France were largely rudderless in attack.

But Fabien Galthie’s side again cut the deficit when Gabrillagues’ score was awarded following a lengthy review, an incident compounded from an Irish perspective by new captain Peter O’Mahony being sin-binned for bringing down the maul.

Ireland once more earned breathing space 18 minutes from time when Sheehan peeled off a rolling maul to finish his own line-out.

The staggeringly-simple score secured a merited bonus point for the dominant visitors and proved to be the fatal blow to French resistance.

Yet there was more punishment to come for the ragged hosts as replacement hooker Kelleher bulldozed over to cap a fine Ireland performance and ramp up pressure on Les Bleus head coach Galthie.

The teams

France:  15 Thomas Ramos, 14 Damian Penaud, 13 Gael Fickou, 12 Jonathan Danty, 11 Yoram Moefana, 10 Matthieu Jalibert, 9 Maxime Lucu, 8 Gregory Alldritt (c), 7 Charles Ollivon, 6 Francois Cros, 5 Paul Willemse, 4 Paul Gabrillagues, 3 Uini Atonio, 2 Peato Mauvaka, 1 Cyril Baille
Replacements:  16 Julien Marchand, 17 Reda Wardi, 18 Dorian Aldegheri, 19 Posolo Tuilagi, 20 Paul Boudehent, 21 Cameron Woki, 22 Nolann Le Garrec, 23 Louis Bielle-Biarrey

Ireland:  15 Hugo Keenan, 14 Calvin Nash, 13 Robbie Henshaw, 12 Bundee Aki, 11 James Lowe, 10 Jack Crowley, 9 Jamison Gibson-Park, 8 Caelan Doris, 7 Josh van der Flier, 6 Peter O’Mahony (c), 5 Tadhg Beirne, 4 Joe McCarthy, 3 Tadhg Furlong, 2 Dan Sheehan, 1 Andrew Porter
Replacements:  16 Ronan Kelleher, 17 Cian Healy, 18 Finlay Bealham, 19 James Ryan, 20 Ryan Baird, 21 Jack Conan, 22 Conor Murray, 23 Ciaran Frawley

Referee:  Karl Dickson (England)
Assistant Referees:  Matthew Carley (England), Jordan Way (Australia)
TMO:  Ben Whitehouse (Wales)

Springboks knock out hosts France in pulsating quarter-final in Paris

Rugby World Cup holders South Africa knocked out host nation France in a pulsating quarter-final in Paris, winning 29-28 to progress to the last-four.

The result ends a run of 18 straight wins at home for Les Bleus as they crash out of the tournament, with the Boks moving on to face England in the semis.

Crossings from Kurt-Lee Arendse, Damian de Allende, Cheslin Kolbe and Eben Etzebeth and the boots of Manie Libbok and Handre Pollard secured the win.

France’s tries came via Cyril Baille (two) and Peato Mauvaka with Thomas Ramos kicking 13 points as the Stade de France was silenced by South Africa.

Having experienced the hostility of the French crowd when they lost narrowly in Marseille last November, South Africa had been training with background noise blaring through speakers in the lead-up to the quarter-final.

The Boks’ efforts to combat the impact of the partisan home support looked futile in the early moments, however, as the French started like a train and threatened to blow their opponents away.

Les Bleus ― eyeing a 19th consecutive home win ― signalled their intent from the outset and Louis Bielle-Biarrey was desperately close to scoring in the second minute but he was just unable to get a firm enough hand on the ball to force it down after getting himself over the line on the left.

The French kept their foot to the floor, though, and they had their supporters in raptures in the fourth minute as prop Baille dotted over for an easy finish on the right following a ferocious maul towards the line after a quickly-taken lineout.  Ramos added the extras.

South Africa, summoning the resolve of champions, managed to stem the blue tide and get themselves a foothold in the game.  They levelled things up out of nothing as a high ball over the top bounced kindly for Arendse, who burst over the line, with Libbok adding the conversion.

Ramos attempted to edge the French back in front with a penalty attempt from just shy of the halfway line but it lacked the required distance.

Remarkably, it was the Boks who got themselves ahead in the 18th minute when De Allende forced his way over at the second attempt.  Libbok ― whose inconsistent kicking has become a talking point in this tournament ― was off target with the conversion.

The frenzied start continued when French hooker Mauvaka forced his way over on the right for the fourth try of the evening in the 22nd minute.  Adding to the drama, Ramos’ conversion attempt was brilliantly charged down by Cheslin Kolbe.

That would ultimately prove crucial and the jet-heeled Kolbe had another big impact at the other end of the pitch five minutes later as he outpaced two French chasers to reach a clever kick through from Jesse Kriel and bolt over on the left.  This time Libbok was on point with his conversion.

The French levelled things up again just after the half-hour when prop Baille pushed over for his second score, with Ramos converting.

The Boks suffered a blow at the end of the first half when lock Etzebeth was yellow-carded for a head-on-head tackle on Uini Atonio.  Ramos kicked the resulting penalty to ensure the French went in with a 22-19 lead at the end of one of the most exhilarating 40 minutes in Rugby World Cup history.

South Africa changed their half-back pairing early in the second half as they sent on Pollard and Faf de Klerk for Libbok and Cobus Reinach, shortly before Etzebeth returned with no further damage done on the scoreboard in his absence.

With the pace of the game having subsided, Ramos stretched the French lead to six points with another penalty in the 54th minute.

👏 Brilliant Springboks' counterattack!#FRAvRSA #RWC2023 pic.twitter.com/QKKAnTW280

— Planet Rugby (@PlanetRugby) October 15, 2023

However, the topsy-turvy nature of this titanic encounter continued and ― just as France looked to have some control ― the Boks got themselves a point ahead in the 67th minute when Etzebeth forced over for the seventh try of the night, converted by Pollard.  And two minutes later, Pollard put his team four points to the good with a penalty.

Ramos reduced the deficit to a point with a kick of his own in the 72nd minute, setting up a grandstand finale, but the French were unable to muster one final score as their dreams of a first World Cup on home soil died.

The teams

France:  15 Thomas Ramos, 14 Damian Penaud, 13 Gael Fickou, 12 Jonathan Danty, 11 Louis Bielle-Biarrey, 10 Matthieu Jalibert, 9 Antoine Dupont (c), 8 Gregory Alldritt, 7 Charles Ollivon, 6 Anthony Jelonch, 5 Thibaud Flmanet, 4 Cameron Woki, 3 Uini Atonio, 2 Peato Mauvaka, 1 Cyril Baille
Replacements:  16 Pierre Bourgarit, 17 Reda Wardi, 18 Dorian Aldegheri, 19 Romain Taofifenua, 20 Francois Cros, 21 Sekou Macalou, 22 Maxime Lucu, 23 Yoram Moefana

South Africa:  15 Damian Willemse, 14 Kurt-Lee Arendse, 13 Jesse Kriel, 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Cheslin Kolbe, 10 Manie Libbok, 9 Cobus Reinach, 8 Duane Vermeulen, 7 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 6 Siya Kolisi (c), 5 Franco Mostert, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Frans Malherbe, 2 Bongi Mbonambi, 1 Steven Kitshoff
Replacements:  16 Deon Fourie, 17 Ox Nche, 18 Vincent Koch, 19 RG Snyman, 20 Kwagga Smith, 21 Faf de Klerk, 22 Handre Pollard, 23 Willie le Roux

Referee:  Ben O’Keeffe (New Zealand)
Assistant Referees:  Paul Williams (New Zealand), James Doleman (New Zealand)
TMO:  Brendon Pickerill (New Zealand)