France shrugged off the sweltering Tokyo conditions to power past Japan 42-15 and end the opening leg of their Nations Championship campaign on a winning note on Saturday.
Having edged the Wallabies last week after opening their campaign with a narrow defeat to New Zealand, the Six Nations champions proved too clinical for the Brave Blossoms, running in six tries in front of more than 50,000 fans at the National Stadium.
Matthieu Jalibert and hooker Maxime Lamothe both scored doubles, while Alexandre Roumat and captain Maxime Lucu also crossed as France wrapped up their southern hemisphere tour with a second victory from three matches.
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Japan, who beat Italy before defeats to Ireland and France, stayed in the fight during the opening half through tries from Kippei Ishida and Sojiro Otsuka, but were ultimately outgunned.
France made the perfect start when Lamothe crashed over from a driving maul in just the second minute.
The visitors suffered an early blow when flanker Lenni Nouchi and lock Florian Verhaege both left the field for concussion assessments, allowing Japan to briefly seize the momentum.
After narrowing the gap with a penalty, Japan struck again when Ishida showed blistering pace to finish a superb counter-attack.
France quickly restored control. Jalibert crossed before Japan lock Harry Hockings was shown a yellow card, and Roumat marked his first Test appearance since February 2025 with a try to extend the lead.
Lucu then dotted down before Otsuka gave the home crowd hope with Japan’s second try shortly before half-time.
Any thoughts of a comeback were ended early in the second half.
Jalibert grabbed his second try two minutes after the restart before Lamothe also completed his brace as France pulled away.
Jalibert was later sin-binned for a dangerous tackle, while Japan thought they had another score through replacement Tiennan Costly, only for the TMO to rule the try out.
The result sees France conclude their three-match campaign with victories over Australia and Japan, their only defeat coming against New Zealand in Christchurch.
JAPAN – Tries: Kippei Ishida, Sojiro Otsuka. Conversion: Takuro Matsunaga. Penalty: Matsunaga.
FRANCE – Tries: Maxime Lamothe (2), Matthieu Jalibert (2), Alexandre Roumat, Maxime Lucu. Conversions: Lucu (6).
– AFP
Photo: Toru Hanai/Getty Images
The post Six-try France outclass Brave Blossoms appeared first on SA Rugby magazine.
France shrugged off the sweltering Tokyo conditions to power past Japan 42-15 and end the opening leg of their Nations Championship campaign on a winning note on Saturday.
The post Six-try France outclass Brave Blossoms appeared first on SA Rugby magazine. Read More
