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The French Barbarians defeated Australia by a score of 19-11 at the Stade Chaban-Delmas in Bordeaux on Thursday. Uruguayan lock Rodrigo Capo Ortega played for the best part of an hour in the second row for the Barbarians in a match that didn’t quite live up to the expectations of Barbarians rugby.
Indeed the Australian side might well also have been branded Barbarians as five French-based players, one from Japan, and a host of uncapped call-ups comprised the match day XV. Former Wallaby skipper Ben Mowen scored the first and only try for the Australians in the opening moments of the match, touching down in the corner to give the game a bright start. Nick Frisby could not convert but made good on a penalty goal five minutes later. Sadly for the audience there would be little else to cheer for until the tail end of the match.
Clermont hooker Nathan Charles was given a yellow card for a dangerous tackle on Yann Lesgourgues in the 23rd minute but the Barbarians could not capitalise on the man advantage, recording only a penalty kick from Romain Lonca to leave the halftime score a dismal 8-3. The second half showed little action with replacement Julien Dumora landing three goals to give the French a slender one-point lead.
Sending the game needed a lift before full-time, Australia attacked and regained the lead through the boot of Kyle Godwin. The French finally pulled up their socks and Raphaël Lakafia smashed his way under the posts for a try just before the full-time. Argentine referee Juan Sylvestre blew the final whistle shortly after and the Barbarians celebrated a notable if uneventful win.
SCORING
FRENCH BARBARIANS 19
Tries – R. Lakafia (76′)
Cons – J. Dumora (77′)
Pens – R. Lonca (29′), J. Dumora 3 (52′, 60′, 69′)
AUSTRALIA 11
Tries – B. Mowen (1′)
Pens – N. Frisby (6′), K. Godwin (75′)
Yellow cards – N. Charles (23′)
TEAMS
FRENCH BARBARIANS
1 Lucas Pointud, 2 Rémi Bonfils, 3 Julien Brugnaut, 4 Félix Lambey, 5 Rodrigo Capó Ortega, 6 Romain Sazy, 7 Camille Gérondeau, 8 Raphaël Lakafia, 9 Yann Lesgourgues, 10 Romain Lonca, 11 Louis Dupichot, 12 Aurélien Rougerie (capt.), 13 Pierre Aguillon, 14 Blair Connor, 15 Arthur Bonneval
16 Jean-Charles Orioli, 17 Jean-Baptiste Poux, 18 Loic Jacquet, 19 Jean Monribot, 20 Antoine Dupont, 21 Julien Dumora, 22 Julien Caminati, 23 Alexandre Menini
AUSTRALIA XV
1 Paddy Ryan, 2 Nathan Charles, 3 Tom Robertson, 4 Will Skelton (capt.), 5 Sam Carter, 6 Peter Kimlin, 7 Jack Dempsey, 8 Ben Mowen, 9 Nick Frisby, 10 Jono Lance, 11 Taqele Naiyaravoro, 12 Kyle Godwin, 13 Mark Gerrard, 14 Marika Koroibete, 15 Luke Morahan
16 Andrew Ready, 17 Sef Fa’agase, 18 David Lolohea, 19 Scott Fardy, 20 Henry Vanderglas, 21 Niz Stirzaker, 22 Andrew Kellaway, 23 Henry Clunies-Ross
MATCH OFFICIALS
Referee: Juan Sylvestre (UAR)
Assistants: Laurent Cardona (FFR) & Maxime Chalon (FFR)
TMO: Arnaud Blondel (FFR)
