France punish spiteful Pumas
The Pumas, who won 30-19 at the same ground six days ago, were outplayed throughout by visitors lacking many stars on French Top 14 knockout stage duty.
Noves, winner of four European and 10 French titles with Toulouse, succeeded Philippe Saint-Andre after France were thrashed by New Zealand in the 2015 World Cup quarterfinals.
After starting his reign with narrow Six Nations wins over Italy and Ireland, he suffered losses to Wales, Scotland and England in the same competition, and to Argentina.
Argentine ill discipline continued with lock Tomas Lavanini, returning from a Super Rugby suspension, sin-binned during the second half for sticking his knee into the back of Loann Goujon after he scored.
France were forced to make a last-minute change with winger Xavier Mignot withdrawing to be replaced by Hugo Bonneval, one of the first Test starters who had been axed.
The visitors had two chances to take the lead from penalties inside 10 minutes on a badly cut-up Estadio Monumental Jose Fierro pitch.
But scrumhalf Baptiste Serin and centre Gael Fickou failed on a cool, overcast afternoon in the northern city.
Serin saw his close-range angled kick drift across the posts while Fickou was just short with a brave attempt from the halfway line.
The deadlock was broken on 26 minutes when Serin slotted a penalty after calmly placing the ball back on the tee when it fell off.
Argentina had several line-out throws stolen and were less solid than France in the scrums.
The hosts fell further behind a minute before half-time when a Serin break down the right wing set up Bonneval to cross the try-line.
Serin converted for a 10-0 half-time lead and kicked his second penalty of the match five minutes after the break to stretch the advantage.
The scrumhalf was outstanding and when Pumas fly-half Nicolas Sanchez put a clever kick over the French defence, Serin came to the rescue with a timely mark.
Dominant France went 20 points ahead seven minutes after half-time when centre Remi Lamerat scored his first Test try and Serin converted amid whistling and jeers.
France won a scrum and a show-and-go from flyhalf Francois Trinh-Duc set up Lamerat to dot down.
Serin completed the scoring on 63 minutes by converting a try from Goujon, who barged over from close range.
Man of the match: Not many Argentineans put their hands up and only a few Frenchmen in a very dour affair. French fullback Maxime Médard was the most energetic in a very drab game.
Moment of the match: In a drab, four affair – played in dreadful conditions – one of the few highlights was referee Wayne Barnes telling an Argentinean player to "calm down" and then with a smile on his face telling his teammate " he is just excited", all while the Puma was spewing vile anger at the match official.
Villain: No doubt this one goes to Argentina lock Tomas Lavanini, who has just come back from a two-match ban for his thuggish behaviour in Super Rugby, and then ends up spending 10 minutes in the sin bin for jumping into the back of a prone player with his knee.
The scorers:
For Argentina:
None
For France:
Tries: Bonneval, Lamerat, Goujon
Cons: Serin 3
Pens: Serin 2
Yellow card: Tomas Lavanini (Argentina, 62 – foul play, knee in the back of a prone opponent)
Teams:
Argentina: 15 Joaquín Tuculet, 14 Santiago Cordero, 13 Matías Moroni, 12 Santiago González Iglesias, 11 Manuel Montero, 10 Nicolás Sánchez, 9 Tomás Cubelli, 8 Facundo Isa, 7 Javier Ortega Desio, 6 Pablo Matera, 5 Tomás Lavanini, 4 Guido Petti, 3 Ramiro Herrera, 2 Agustín Creevy (captain), 1 Nahuel Tetaz Chaparro.
Replacements: 16 Julián Montoya, 17 Santiago García Botta, 18 Enrique Pieretto, 19 Tomás Lezana, 20 Juan Manuel Leguizamón, 21 Martín Landajo, 22 Matías Orlando, 23 Lucas González Amorosino.
France: Maxime Médard, 14 Xavier Mignot, 13 Gaël Fickou, 12 Rémi Lamerat, 11 Djibril Camara, 10 François Trinh-Duc, 9 Baptiste Serin, 8 Louis Picamoles, 7 Kevin Gourdon, 6 Loann Goujon, 5 Yoann Maestri (captain), 4 Julien Ledevedec, 3 Uini Atonio, 2 Rémi Bonfils, 1 Jefferson Poirot.
Replacements: Clément Maynadier, 17 Lucas Pointud, 18 Rabah Slimani, 19 Paul Jedrasiak, 20 Kélian Galletier, 21 Sébastien Bézy, 22 Jules Plisson, 23 Julien Rey.
Referee: Wayne Barnes (England)
Assistant referees: Johnny Lacey (Ireland), Luke Pearce (England)
TMO: Johan Greeff (South Africa)
Agence France-Presse & @rugby365com
