France stutter past Tonga

France beat Tonga 43-8, but were made to work for their victory in Toulouse.

International Match, Saturday November 19, KO 14.00

France chalked up their third victory of the autumn, but they were made to work for the 43-8 triumph against Tonga.

The French changed half of the team from the side that beat Canada a week ago, and their lack of match togetherness showed as they struggled to break down a combative Tongan outfit.

However, the class of the hosts told in the end as they ran in five tries, with Vincent Clerc helping himself to a brace whilst Thomas Lievremont, Aurelien Rougerie and Yannick Jauzion all touched down.

The first half was an aggressive affair, as Tonga successfully disrupted the French rhythm to keep the score down to 12-8 at the break.

The visitors even found time to cross the whitewash themselves, as captain Viliami Vaki went over to silence the Toulouse crowd.

Sale Sharks duo Julien Laharrague and Sebastien Chabal were both forced off through injury during a frustrating opening 40 minutes, which saw the home side booed off at the interval.

The hostile reception served to rouse the Frenchmen, and after Tonga Leaetoa was sin-binned for punching, Lievremont forced over from the resulting scrum to lighten the mood of the crowd.

Saracens man Thomas Castaignede had moved back to full back following the injury to Laharrague, and France's 'Little Prince' began to stamp his own inventive mark on proceedings - setting up the next two scores.

First he latched onto young starlet Yannick Nyanga's pass to release Rougerie to go over in the corner, and then he danced past the Tongan rearguard to set up Clerc for the first of his two tries.

Substitute Jauzion added his name to the scoresheet late on, before Clerc completed the scoring, as the French amassed over 40 points for the second game running.

South Africa are next to face up to Les Blues, who have now beaten Australia, Canada and Tonga.