Argentina thrashed France by a record 41-13 margin on
Saturday night as 'Les Bleus' were comprehensively outplayed
in Buenos Aires.
Not only
was it Argentina's biggest ever win against France, it was
also their fourth in a row at home against 'Les Bleus', and
ended a traumatic week for French sport.
Marc
Lièvremont's team had hoped not only to bounce back from
their South African humbling two weeks ago - when they lost
42-17 - but also to put a smile back on their supporters'
faces after the humiliating manner of the national football
team's exit from the ongoing World Cup.
They
were, however, shunted aside once more as France-based
fly-half Felipe Contepomi led the Pumas' rout. The Toulon
player collected a match haul of 31 points as he scored two
tries, three conversions and five penalties at the Estadio
José Amalfitani.
Lièvremont could point out that France were missing several
integral members of their Grand Slam side - such as Imanol
Harinordoquy, Sébastien Chabal, Yannick Jauzion and Mathieu
Bastareaud - and also that this was a tour too far after a
demanding and long season, but the truth is they appear to have
gone backwards since the culmination of the RBS Six Nations.
Remember, this latest reverse was against an Argentina
side that has just lost a Test series 0-2 at home to
Scotland.
"It's
desolation," admitted a shell-shocked Lièvremont after
Saturday's loss. "I don't know how we could sink so badly in
these few weeks, to suffer two points records in South
Africa and now here in Argentina. I expected tough matches,
but these defeats are ridiculous. It was a nightmare," he
added.
The only
possible positive that Lièvremont can take from this tour is
perhaps that it will have shaken the squad free of any
complacency, but that will have to be weighed against
severely dented confidence as they look ahead to next year's
World Cup in New Zealand.
Captain
Thierry Dusautoir admitted as much in his own post-match
comments to the press. "When you concede 40 points in two
successive Tests there isn't a lot to say," he reflected.
"We can
find 50 excuses, but today we came up against a team who
were just much stronger than us. We were dominated in all
areas and this was our level sadly. For a team that has
ambitions to be world champions next year its going to be
difficult to pick ourselves up from this," added the Stade
Toulousain flanker.
The fact most of the damage was inflicted by
Toulon's second choice fly-half - behind Jonny Wilkinson -
will not have made the defeat any easier to take, and there
is bound to be plenty of ribbing over future months from the
plethora of Argentina's other France-based players. Indeed,
of Argentina's 41 points all but five were scored by Toulon
players as Contepomi's 31-point haul was supplemented by a
try from club colleague Juan Martin Fernandez Lobbe. The
Pumas' other score came from Leicester Tigers winger Lucas
Amorosino, while France's scoring was restricted to two
penalties and a conversion from Morgan Parra, and a
second-half try from Julien Malzieu.
Thus, in
a strictly club sense, it was Toulon 36 Clermont Auvergne
13, although that will be absolutely no consolation to
Lièvremont and company on their long journey home.
France
actually took an early lead when Parra slotted a
second-minute penalty, but ill-discipline constantly undid
the visitors' efforts and they were soon 6-3 down after
Contepomi replied with two penalties of his own inside the
opening 10 minutes.
Contepomi missed with a straightforward effort on 12
minutes, enabling Parra to level the scores shortly after,
but that was as good as it got for Lièvremont's team.
Further transgressions - including a yellow card for centre
Florian Fritz - led to Contepomi landing two more penalties,
before the Pumas pulled decisively clear courtesy of a
pitch-length break from Lobbe.
The home
side's 19-6 half-time lead was lengthened further when
Contepomi crossed for his first try on 48 minutes, although
Malzieu's reply four minutes later briefly lifted French
spirits.
It
proved illusory, however, with Argentina adding two more
tries before the end through Contepomi and Amorosino as they
enjoyed their biggest ever win against France - beating
their 34-10 third place play-off victory in the 2007 World
Cup.
Argentina: Rodriguez, Amorosino,
Tiesi, Fernandez, Carballo, Contepomi, Vergallo; Roncero,
Ledesma, Scelzo, Carizza, Albacete, Fessia, Campos,
Fernandez Lobbe.
Replacements: Agulla for Fernandez (77), Ayerza for
Roncero (62), Creevy for Ledesma (65), Figallo for Scelzo
(56), Leguizamon for Campos (55).
Not Used: Galarza, Figuerola.
France:
Porical, Clerc, Fritz, Mazars, Malzieu, Trinh-Duc, Parra;
Barcella, Szarzewski, Mas, Pape, Nallet, Dusautoir,
Picamoles, Bonnaire.
Replacements:
Poitrenaud for Mazars (50), Yachvili for Parra (61), Guirado
for Szarzewski (61), Poux for Mas (72), Pierre for Nallet
(50), Lamboley for Bonnaire (50).
Not Used: Rougerie.
Sin
Bin: Fritz (36).
Att:
32,460
Referee:
Stuart Dickinson (Australia)
