French smash 14-man Islanders
Sat, 15 Nov 2008 18:40
France made hard work of beating the Pacific Islanders 42-17 at Stade Auguste Bonal, Montbéliard, on Saturday - with their opponents playing most of the match with 14 men after Napoleoni Nalaga was red-carded in the 18th minute.
The French ran in five tries, including one from man-of-the-match Cedric Heymans and one from debutant Sebastien Tillous-Bordes, who had to come on for Jean-Baptiste Elissalde when he was cynically head-tackled by Nalaga.
The opening minutes were a cagey affair with the Pacific Islanders initially taking a 3-0 lead through a Seremaia Bai penalty, which was then levelled by David Skrela, but the three point gap was restored by Bai in the 10th minute.
However, the balance of the match tipped the hosts way 18 minutes into the first-half when Nalaga was justifiably red-carded by referee Nigel Owens for a gratuitous head high tackle on France scrumhalf Jean-Baptiste Elissalde - who had to be stretchered off.
It took the French a good 10 minutes to register their one man advantage before a good lay-off by Julien Malzieu set up Dimitri Szarzewski who touched down under the posts and Skrela duly converted.
The French grabbed a second try soon afterwards, though, it had a touch of fortune about it as France captain Lionel Nallet obstructed an Islanders defender, but Owens failed to see that and Tillous-Bordes was allowed free rein to run in and score his maiden try for his country.
Bai, though, kept the Pacific Islanders within reach when he landed a penalty in time added on to leave the score at 17-12 at the break.
The French started the second-half brightly and extended their lead as Heymans touched down to make it 22-12 and then two Skrela penalties ensured some much needed breathing space for the hosts.
While the Islanders went close to scoring a try on a couple of occasions it was the French that managed to convert their opportunity with Picamoles touching down and Skrela converting.
Outstanding Toulouse fullback Maxime Medard then touched down before the Islanders got a deserved try two minutes from the end by Tongan Epeli Taione.
Man of the match: It was a scratchy start, but once the French overcame the early resistance and started using their numerical advantage a number of players put their hands up. However, our award goes to star wing Cedric Heymans, who showed plenty on attack.
Moment of the match: There were five quality tries, but without doubt the most crucial moment was the red card of Fijian wing Napoleoni Nalaga in the 18th minute.
Villain of the match: Hands down, this one goes to Napoleoni Nalaga for his stupendous tackle that left Jean-Baptiste Elissalde seriously injured.
The scorers:
For France:
Tries: Szarzewski,
Tillous-Borde, Heymans, Picamoles, Traille
Cons: Skrela 4
Pens: Skrela 3
For the Pacific Islanders:
Try: Taione
Pens: Bai 4
Red card: Napoleoni Nalaga (Fiji, 18 - dangerous tackle)
Teams:
France: 15 Maxime Medard, 14 Julien Malzieu, 13 Yannick Jauzion, 12 Benoit Baby, 11 Cedric Heymans, 10 David Skrela, 9 Jean-Baptiste Elissalde, 8 Imanol Harinordoquy, 7 Fulgence Ouedraogo, 6 Thierry Dusautoir, 5 Lionel Nallet, 4 Romain Millo-Chluski, 3 Nicolas Mas, 2 Dimitri Szarzewski, 1 Lionel Faure.
Replacements: 16 Benjamin Kayser, 17 Benoit Lecouls, 18 Sebastien Chabal, 19 Louis Picamoles, 20 Sebastien Tillous-Bordes, 21 Damien Traille, 22 Alexis Palisson.
Pacific Islanders: 15 Gavin Williams (Samoa), 14 Napoleoni Nalaga (Fiji), 13 Seru Rabeni (Fiji), 12 Epeli Taione (Tonga), 11
Vilimoni Delasau (Fiji), 10 Seremaia Bai (Fiji), 9 Mosese Rauluni (Fiji, captain), 8 Sisa Koyamaibole (Fiji), 7 Nili Latu (Tonga), 6 Hale T-Pole (Tonga), 5 Kele Leawere (Fiji), 4 Paino Hehea (Tonga), 3 Kisi Pulu (Tonga), 2 Tani Fuga (Samoa), 1 Kas Lealamanua (Samoa).
Replacements: 16 Sunia Koto (Fiji), 17 Census Johnston (Samoa), 18 Filipo Levi (Samoa), 19 Viliami Vaki (Tonga), 20 Sililo Martens (Tonga), 21 Kameli Ratuvou (Fiji), 22 Seilala Mapusua (Samoa).
Referee: Nigel Owens (Ireland)
Touch judges: Wayne Barnes (England), Carlo Damasco (Italy)
TMO: Shaun Veldsman (South Africa)
