Michalak leads France past Canada

France overcame a defiant Canadian side by a score of 41-18, with two tries and a penalty goal in the final quarter stretching the score after Canada had clawed their way back to within six points. Frédéric Michalak contributed 14 points with the boot and orchestrated the attack with some accurate tactical kicking and trademark creative play.

Things could not have started worse for Canada, with Michalak breaking through some despairingly poor tackling before offloading to Wesley Fofana who dove over for a try with barely three minutes on the clock. The conversion went over and France were up by seven with fans still finding their seats.

Michalak added another goal 10 minutes later and Canada suffered a hammer blow when captain Tyler Ardron when off with a knee injury soon after. France looked in total control when Guilhem Guirado crossed for their second try, this time from a rolling maul created in open play. Canada could do naught but watch as Les Bleus patiently stepped towards the line. The conversion brought the gap to 17 points and it was not looking hopeful for the men in red.

Just when it seemed things might get ugly, Canada exploded from nowhere, with Ciaran Hearn’s terrific take from the restart sparking an all-out assault on the French line. After several phases, the defense was stretched thin and a stutter-step from DTH van der Merwe put the winger over for his third try in three games. Nathan Hirayama hit the kick from a bad angle and Canada had the crowd on their side.

A second score came just moments later. Canada were on attack again and worked an overlap on the right side, only for Kyle Gilmour to botch a 2-on-1 by failing to pass to a wide open Phil Mackenzie on the right. Thankfully Aaron Carpenter was on hand, sparing his teammate’s blushes with a powerful pick and drive to wriggle over the line.

Sensing the momentum had gone completely against them, France replied in the sternest fashion. After gaining possession following the restart, a penalty gave them an attacking lineout, and the maul put Rabah Slimani over in double quick time.

The intermission seemed to do more harm than good for France, as Canada came roaring out and had Les Bleus on their heels for 15 minutes, punctuated by two penalty goals from Hirayama. It was Michalak again who dug them out of depression with his fifth successful kick just before the hour mark.

As the game wore on so did the Canadian pack, with and tries by Pascal Pape and Remy Grosso – on debut – sealed the victory and the bonus point for France. Canada now limp to Leicester where they face Romania in search of an elusive victory in their final Pool D game. France will face off against Ireland to determine the pool winners at the Millenium Stadium on October 11.

FRANCE 41
Tries – W. Fofana (3). G. Guirado (28), R. Slimani (37), P. Papé (66), R. Grosso (74)
Cons – F. Michalak 4 (4, 29, 38, 67), M. Parra (75)
Pens – F. Michalak 2 (14, 59)

CANADA 18
Tries – D. van der Merwe (31), A. Carpenter (34)
Cons – N. Hirayama (32)
Pens – N. Hirayama 2 (42, 55)
Yellow cards – N. Dala (72)

FRANCE
1 E. Ben Arous (V. Debaty 59) 2 G. Guirado (B. Kayser 59) 3 R. Slimani (N. Mas 62) 4 P. Papé 5 Y. Maestri 6 T. Dusautoir (capt.) 7 B. le Roux (Y. Nyanga 68) 8 D. Chouly (F. Ouedraogo 73) 9 S. Tillous-Borde (M. Parra 59) 10 F. Michalak (R. Talès 68) 11 B. Dulin 12 W. Fofana 13 M. Bastareaud (A. Dumoulin 70) 14 R. Grosso 15 S. Spedding

CANADA
1 H. Buydens (D. Sears-Duru 48) 2 A. Carpenter (E. Olmstead 61) 3 D. Wooldridge (A. Tiedemann 68) 4 B. Beukeboom 5 J. Cudmore 6 K. Gilmour 7 R. Thorpe (R. Barkwill 48) 8 T. Ardron (capt.) (N. Dala 18) 9 P. Mack (G. McRorie 66) 10 N. Hirayama 11 D. van der Merwe 12 N. Blevins 13 C. Hearn 14 P. Mackenzie (C. Trainor 68) 15 M. Evans (H. Jones 37 {C. Trainor 63-68})