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France survive late Tonga rally to setup shootout with England

Antoine Dupont of France attempts to break the Tonga line.

France secured their place in the World Cup quarter-finals with a 23-21 victory over Tonga at the Kumamoto Stadium.

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France will now face a shootout with England next Saturday to determine who will finish top of Pool C.

Virimi Vakatawa and Alivereti Raka went over for tries for France, with Romain Ntamack booting 13 points. Sonatane Takulua, Malietoa Hingano and Zane Kapeli scored the Tonga tries.

Ntamack kicked France into an early lead after Tonga were penalised for offside.

And two minutes later they went over for the opening try when they turned the ball over in their own half before advancing forward and working it wide to Raka, who sent centre Vakatawa in for the score.

Ntamack converted and then missed another shot at goal before France went in for a second try.

Scrum-half Baptiste Serin took a quick tap penalty and fed Raka and he kicked the ball ahead, collected and touched down, with Ntamack converting from out wide to put France 17-0 up.

Tonga got back into the game shortly before the interval with the help of the TMO after Takulua was judged to have grounded the ball amid some fierce French defence.

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France thought they had a third try from flanker Charles Ollivon but the crucial pass from Sebastien Vahaamahina was forward.

And Tonga went straight up the other end and got a try of their own through Hingano.

Cooper Vuna’s kick ahead bounced kindly into the hands of Hingano, who gathered and powered over the line and Takulua’s conversion brought them within three points at 17-14.

Ntamack then booted another two penalties to give France some breathing space heading into the final 20 minutes.

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Damian Penaud had a try disallowed by the TMO for France after Maxime Medard knocked on in the build-up.

Tonga got a third try right at the death when referee Nic Berry played a penalty advantage and Latiume Fosita kicked wide for flanker Kapeli to gather and score in the corner.

Fosita added the extras but Tonga could not gather the ball from the kick-off and France held on for the victory.

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SK 56 minutes ago
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That fighting Aussie spirit really served them well last week when they were down 24-5 early in the second, to rally back to 27-19 and dominate the last quarter was really impressive. I dont subscribe to the thought that the Lions took their foot off the gas. The Lions are not flawless. This group goes through periods in matches where they run riot and then through other periods where their game almost devolves as they try to play too much and lose all momentum falling flat. The strongest most consistent part of their game is their defence. I feel like the weakest part could be their set piece especially that creaky scrum which really should be doing better against Australia. If this Lions side was playing against the Springboks or All Blacks they would not be winning collisions and their set piece would be under serious scrutiny. Australia must try to do better in the collisions and put more pressure on the Lions set piece. They must bring line speed and power to their defence. They cannot afford to give up any soft tries and they must bring urgency at the start of the game. They need to force the Lions to play on their terms and to play from behind. If the Lions race out to an early lead all bets are off, if they keep momentum for a protracted period the game will be up. Australia must spoil, harass, frustrate and compete in every ruck, maul, scrum and lineout. Its time to face the Lions head on.

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