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The final scoreboard read 33-9 in favor of France, but it was far from easy for Les Bleus as the USA were within three points until the 66th minute of the match. Three converted tries in the final minutes of the match led France to safety after the combative Eagles gave them all they could handle for over an hour.
It was a quick start for France as Yoann Huget slid onto a chip kick from Camille Lopez after Thomas Ramos sparked a counter-attack from the French 22. The Eagles had to regroup and they did, earning a penalty from an offside which AJ MacGinty landed to put the USA on the board just shy of 20 minutes.
Les Bleus were in the mood for tries and this time it was the other winger Alivereti Raka who touched down. Once again the boot of Lopez was the catalyst, his cross-kick finding the Fijian open out wide. The conversion was no good, however, and MacGinty landed a penalty before the break to make it a very respectable 12-6 at halftime.
The first 25 minutes of the second half saw the Eagles frustrate the French attack repeatedly. They looked to have scored on a Sofiane Guitoune break but the pass was ruled forward, to deny what would have been a second for Raka. Instead it was the USA who scored next as MacGinty landed to his third penalty.
France run the changes and the cavalry paid immediate dividends. A multi-phase attack ended with Gaël Fickou crossing, then Baptiste Serin touched down after another Lopez kick had connected with Raka.
An Eagles score looked to be certain when Greg Peterson broke clean through the line, but he failed to read the support on the inside and knocked on instead knocked on in the tackle. Instead it was France who would finish the scoring as Jefferson Poirot touched down on the end of a driving maul.
Les Bleus have avoided embarrassment and will now face Tonga in their third Pool C match on Sunday. The USA can hold their heads high and look forward to their match against Los Pumas next Wednesday, with Argentina knowing that a result against the Eagles will not be a formality.
SCORING
FRANCE 33
Tries – Y. Huget (6′), A. Raka (23′), G. Fickou (66′), B. Serin (69′), J. Poirot (79′)
Cons – T. Ramos (7′), C. Lopez 3 (67′, 70′, 80′)
USA 9
Pens – A. MacGinty 3 (18′, 30′, 64′)
TEAMS
FRANCE
1 Cyril Baille, 2 Camille Chat, 3 Emerick Setiano, 4 Bernard le Roux, 5 Paul Gabrillagues, 6 Arthur Iturria, 7 Yacouba Camara, 8 Louis Picamoles (capt.), 9 Maxime Machenaud, 10 Camille Lopez, 11 Yoann Huget, 12 Gaël Fickou, 13 Sofiane Guitoune, 14 Alivereti Raka, 15 Thomas Ramos
Replacements: 16. Guilhem Guirado, 17 Jefferson Poirot, 18 Rabah Slimani, 19 Sébastien Vaha’amahina, 20 Grégory Alldritt, 21 Baptiste Serin, 22 Romain Ntamack, 23 Maxime Médard
USA
1 Eric Fry, 2 Joe Taufetee, 3 Titi Lamositele, 4 Nate Brakeley, 5 Nick Civetta, 6 Tony Lamborn, 7 Hanco Germishuys, 8 Cam Dolan, 9 Shaun Davies, 10 AJ MacGinty, 11 Martin Iosefo, 12 Bryce Campbell, 13 Marcel Brache, 14 Blaine Scully (capt.), 15 Mike Teo
Replacements: 16 Dylan Fawsitt, 17 Olive Kilifi, 18 Paul Mullen, 19 Greg Peterson, 20 Ben Pinkelman, 21 Ruben de Haas, 22 Will Magie, 23 Thretton Palamo
MATCH OFFICIALS
Referee: Ben O’Keeffe (New Zealand)
Assistants: Wayne Barnes (England) & Shuhei Kubo (Japan)
TMO: Rowan Kitt (England)
