Charles Gimenez scored in France's win over Samoa
Photo: Philip Marshall
17 APRIL 2007
By Dean McFarlane
France bounced back from missing out on the semi finals by beating Samoa 35-13 in Division A at the IRB Under 19 World Championship 2007 at Deramore, Belfast Harlequins.
The first score came in the 13th minute when France charged down a relieving kick and Samoa were forced to slide the ball into touch.
France won the lineout and the pack drove over the line for prop forward Arthur Joly to claim the score with captain Mathieu Belie adding the conversion.
Soon after France increased their advantage when scrum half Maxime Machenaud made a break to link up with Belie and Charles Giminez who raced in wide out on the right for a 12 point advantage.
As France pressed forward once more the ball was lost and Samoa took full advantage. Excellent ball handling skills and a terrific final pass allowed Afa Aiono to sprint over.
As their confidence grew Samoa passed the ball with great fluidity, but stern tackling prevented the breakthrough.
Floundering attacks
The final play of the half allowed France to seize their third try when yet another Samoan attack floundered.
French full back Cedric Coll gathered a loose pass and sprinted fully 90 metres to score between the posts with Belie once more finding the target with the conversion.
After the interval Samoa claimed their second try when number 8 Richard Muagutita picked up at the back of the scrum and made a number of metres before Faialaga Afamasaga surged over.
The free flowing rugby from the Samoans caused France some problems but attack after attack was stopped until France were caught offside.
Samoa captain Alatasi Tuopo grabbed the ball and made no mistake as he slotted the penalty over, however, Morgan Parra secured the French victory with a penalty and a last minute drop goal.
France will now play England in the fifth place playoff, whilst Samoa play Argentina for seventh place.
QUOTES
France captain Mathieu Belie: “I am disappointed because we didn’t do what we had to do, but we got the victory. I think we can beat England, but we have to improve our whole game and I think we can do this.”
France assistant coach Jean Marc Bederede: “I am a bit disappointed because Samoa were a bit more aggressive than us . We made a lot of mistakes and were lucky to win this game. We need to keep our nerve and hold on to the ball a lot more against England.”
Samoa captain Alatasi Tupou: “I feel we played well today but we just missed out on a number of occasions, we probably should have won the game but it is good to finish higher than last year. We must continue our good work in the tackle area and we could beat Argentina.”
Samoa head coach Mauia Vaapuu Vitale: “We played very well today, but we just missed the last pass and that cost us in the close game. Our lineouts and tackling were very good and we only need to improve our basic game to go on and hopefully beat Argentina to finish two places higher than last year in eighth.”
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