New-look France beats Argentina 28-13 in first test

MENDOZA, Argentina (AP) — A France team which debuted eight players beat Argentina 28-13 in the first test on Saturday to usher in a new generation for French rugby.

Center Antoine Frisch and winger Theo Attissogbe scored tries on debut for France while scrumhalf and captain Baptiste Serin scored their first try in his first test start in four years.

France has taken a squad of 42 players to Argentina including 22 new caps, and Saturday’s test gave the rugby world the first sight of the new guard which will take France on from last year’s disappointing home Rugby World Cup performance.

Among those who made their debuts, Samoa-born Posolo Tuilagi came off the bench in the second half. The 149-kilogram (328-pound) lock is the sixth member of the Tuilagi family to play international rugby.

France extended its winning run against Argentina to five matches and has won 29 of 33 tests in the last three years.

“Everything went well. We started the game well and respected the gameplan,” said Frisch, who has committed to France after playing for Emerging Ireland. “We’ve been preparing for the last two weeks.

“It’s a dream come true to play my first game for my country.”

The match broke a run of success for new head coaches in the July internationals. Scott Robertson guided New Zealand to a one-point win over England and Joe Schmidt’s Wallabies beat Wales 25-16. But Felipe Contepomi wasn’t able to repeat the feat in his first test in charge of the Pumas.

The first half opened as a kicking contest, a struggle for field position which France mostly won through the probing kicks of halves Antoine Hastoy and Serin. Otherwise, the packs wrestled in the middle of the field as they tried to provide front-foot ball for the backs.

Argentina was first to take the ball wide, sweeping around the outside corner through right winger Bautista Delguy in the 18th minute.

But France put first points on the board, a penalty to Hastoy in the 21st, answered three minutes later by a penalty to Argentina flyhalf Santiago Carreras.

Argentina came close to scoring in the 28th when Delguy went over in the left corner after running onto a chipped kick from fullback Martin Bogado, but Delguy was held up by Frisch.

Delguy and Jeronimo de la Fuente again found space on the right side but that attack ended when Thomas Gallo knocked on.

France broke the stalemate just before halftime with a brilliant solo try to Serin, who broke through the middle of a line and showed outstanding football skills to control the ball. He was tackled without the ball by Pablo Matera on the tryline but the ball rolled back into his grasp and he was able to ground it.

Giant prop Georges-Henri Colombe went close to adding to France’s 10-3 halftime lead in the new half, carrying two defenders as he stretched for the line but grounding the ball just short.

France had the Argentina scrum under constant pressure, winning two scrum penalties in the first half and using its scrum as the platform for its second try in the 45th.

The French won a penalty advantage at a scrum, and when play continued Frisch ran off a short pass from hooker Gaetan Barlot to score.

France extended its lead to 20-3 with another Hastoy penalty.

Argentina struck back four minutes later with a try to captain Julian Montoya, sweeping around the front of an attacking lineout. Matera passed to Montoya, who hurdled the last defender.

Attissogbe had a solid debut which was capped by a try in the 66th. He chopped infield off a pass from Hastoy and barged through three tacklers to score.

Melvyn Jaminet kicked a long-range penalty to make France’s lead 20 points at 28-8. But Argentina scored its second try through replacement Matias Orlando when Jaminet failed to contain a kick through.

They play a second test in Velez next weekend.

___

AP rugby: https://apnews.com/hub/rugby