France made to work hard
France overcame some anxious moments before they finally saw off the threat of Japan 47-21 in North Harbour.
Last Updated: 10/09/11 8:56am
France overcame some anxious moments before they finally saw off the threat of Japan 47-21 in North Harbour.
The French got off to a flying start, with some powerful running and sublime handling putting them in a commanding position at the break before they had to dig deep to hold off a Japanese fightback.
Julien Pierre, Francois Trinh-Duc, Vincent Clerc, Lionel Nallet, Pascal Pape and Morgan Parra were rewarded with tries, while Dimitri Yachvili kept the scoreboard ticking over with 17 points.
Japan certainly had their moments as they showed how far they have come under the guidance of All Blacks legend John Kirwan - and with a bit more luck they could have snatched a historic win.
James Arlidge led the way for the minnows with all 21 points, including two tries, while livewire scrum-half Fumiaki Tanaka impressed.
Fabrice Estebanez should have got France off to a perfect start in the opening minutes but he knocked on in the tackle after a brilliant break through the middle, while Thierry Dusautoir had an effort chalked off after Yachvili was penalised.
The opening score was not long in coming, though, as Julien Pierre applied the finishing touch after a quick French break - although the Japanese will have been left questioning the interpretation at the breakdown. Yachvili added the extras.
Japan responded well with Arlidge breaking away brilliantly, only for the covering defence to snuff out the threat, while the Nottingham fly-half missed a shot at goal.
And France made Japan pay as Trinh-Duc snaffled an intercept from Arlidge before sprinting 70 metres to score. Yachvili converted.
Brilliantly
Undeterred by the setbacks, the Cherry Blossoms continued to play some nice attacking rugby - and they were rewarded with three points from Arlidge.
Yachvili, though, responded with a couple of penalties of his own to seemingly halt the Japanese fightback.
However Arlidge finally got the rub of the green when his attempted grubber kick rebounded off Trinh-Duc and back into his hands for the No.10 to scoot over. Arlidge missed the conversion.
France hit back as Clerc finished off brilliantly in the corner and superb handling from Cedric Heymans and Aurelien Rougerie.
Japan had the last word before the break with another Arlidge penalty, although it could have been more for the minnows but Ryan Nicholas knocked on after fashioning a two-on-one chance.
Imanol Harinordoquy was denied after the restart as Itaru Taniguchi managed to get his body under the ball after the Biarritz flanker had powered through, while Nallet was also held up from the resulting scrum.
And it was the Cherry Blossoms that struck. After a series of phases - prompted by the high tempo play of Tanaka - Arlidge spotted the gap and broke through two tackles to score. He also added the conversion to cut the deficit to 25-18.
With the crowd roaring them on, Japan ploughed forward and hammered away at the French line before an infringement offered Arlidge an easy three points.
France suddenly seemed devoid of ideas as they were forced onto the back foot. They showed a few moments of individual skills but they lacked cohesion as a team and were clearly rattled by the Japanese.
However they were given some breathing space by a Yachvili penalty with 12 minutes left before veteran lock Nallet powered over to make the game safe. Yachvili added the extras.
And in the dying minutes Pape added the finishing touch after a brilliant move that started in the French 22, while replacement fly-half Parra scored in the corner.