France (33) 43
Try: Szarzewski, Clerc, Jauzion, Dusautoir, Fall, Trinh-Duc (2) Con: Parra (4)
Samoa (0) 5
Try: Tekori
 Samoa (in blue) never stood a chance against a rampant France |
France warmed up for their end-of-season showdown with New Zealand with a seven-try win over Samoa in Paris. Only three players remained from the France side who beat South Africa but the new-look line-up gelled perfectly. Tries by Dimitri Szarzewski, Vincent Clerc, Yannick Jauzion, Thierry Dusautoir and Benjamin Fall put the home team 33-0 up at the break. They eased off after the break before Francois Trinh-Duc added two more, only for Iosefa Tekori to score for Samoa. The Samoa defence held out for just three minutes before hooker Szarzewski exploited a huge gap after a ruck to go over and open the scoring.  | 606: DEBATE |
Clerc touched down Maxime Medard's try to double the lead, before Jauzion got on the end of Trinh-Duc's high kick for the third French score. Samoa had three chances to kick themselves on to the scoreboard in quick succession, but Lolo Lui missed two penalties before Fa'atonu Fili was given a try and produced an even worse kick. The video official awarded France's fourth try, when Dusautoir grounded the ball after a push-over, before debutant winger Fall slid in for France's fifth try just before half-time. Trinh-Duc added two tries after the break, before Samoa finally gained some late consolation with a try from Castres winger Tekori. France face the All Blacks in Marseilles next Saturday in a game which New Zealand fly-half Dan Carter says will "make or break" their season.
France: Medard, Fall, Marty, Jauzion, Clerc, Trinh-Duc, Parra, Domingo, Szarzewski, Marconnet, Chabal, Pape, Dusautoir, Lapandry, Bonnaire. Replacements: David for Marty (66), Traille for Jauzion (73), Dupuy for Parra (63), Guirado for Szarzewski (47), Mas for Marconnet (51), Millo-Chluski for Chabal (59), Puricelli for Dusautoir (47). Samoa: Lui, Mulipola, Fa'afili, Mapusua, Lemi, Fili, Poluleuligaga, Taulafo, Schwalger, Johnston, Levi, Thompson, Fa'amatuainu, Treviranus, H. Tuilagi. Replacements: Fuimaono-Sapolu for Fa'afili (52), Esau for Fili (68), Mai for Poluleuligaga (51), A. Williams for Schwalger (62), Fatialofa for Johnston (56), Tekori for Levi (48), Timoteo for Fa'amatuainu (48). Att: 67,834 Ref: Dave Pearson (RFU).
| 
E-mail this to a friend 
Printable version 
Bookmark with:
What are these?