France too good for Japan

Editor

France kicked on in the second half to defeat Japan 47-7 at the U20 World Championship in Parma.

Tighthead prop Quentin Bethune grabbed the opening try when France attacked off the lineout and he was followed over by his tight-five colleague Julien Delannoy, with fly-half Anthony Belleau knocking over both conversions to give France a 14-0 lead.

Japan however rallied, just as they did against England on Tuesday, and forced France down to 14 men when prop Quentin Walcker was sin-binned for multiple scrum infringements.

Not long after Japan were awarded a penalty try for their first points of the match thanks to their scrum, with France leading 14-7 at half-time.

Scrum-half Gauthier Doubrère struck early at the start of the second half to ease the pressure on the French who grew in confidence.

Judicaël Cancoriet and replacement Camille Chat scored two quick tries, both converted by replacement Lucas Meret, with centre Pierre Fouyssac following them over shortly after as France cruised home.

Lucas Bachelier's yellow card left them down to 14 men in the close minutes, but the job was done as Fouyssac grabbed a late second score for it to finish 47-7.

The scorers:

For France:
Tries: Bethune, Delannoy, Doubrere, Cancoriet, Chat, Fouyssac 2
Cons: Belleau 2, Meret 3
Yellow Cards: Walcker, Bachelier

For Japan:

Try: Penalty Try

Con: Noguchi

France: 15 Alexandre Pilati, 14 Arthur Bonneval, 13 Pierre Fouyssac, 12 Eliott Roudil (c), 11 Martin Laveau, 10 Anthony Belleau, 9 Gauthier Doubrere, 8 Anthony Jelonch, 7 Mathieu Ugena, 6 Judicael Cancoriet, 5 Julien Delannoy, 4 Mathieu Tanguy, 3 Quentin Bethune, 2 Quentin Lespiaucq, 1 Quentin Walcker
Replacements: 16 Camille Chat, 17 Clement Castets, 18 Michael Simutoga, 19 Fabien Sanconnie, 20 Lucas Bachelier, 21 Anthony Meric, 22 Lucas Meret, 23 Lucas Blanc

Japan: 15 Ryuji Noguchi, 14 Seiya Ozaki, 13 Keisei Kasahara, 12 Yusuke Kajimura, 11 Hirofumi Higashikawa, 10 Taisetsu Kanai, 9 Ryuji Yonemura, 8 Tevita Tatafu, 7 Kosuke Urabe, 6 Faulua Mikisi, 5 Mitsuru Furukawa, 4 Hiroto Kato, 3 Tatsuya Kakimoto, 2 Kosuke Horikoshi, 1 Shogo Miura
Replacements: 16 Ryosuke Iwaihara, 17 Ryoma Kuhara, 18 Yuma Fujino, 19 Tomoki Saita, 20 Rinpei Sasaki, 21 Daiki Nakajima, 22 Ataata Moeakiola, 23 Yuta Yamada