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The third match of the Rugby World Cup 2019 featured Argentina and France taking on each other in a Pool C clash on 21st September at the Tokyo Stadium in Tokyo.
The first half of the match saw France utterly dominate Argentina as the former took a 20-3 lead before the break. However, the South Americans made a comeback in the second half to take a 21-20 lead before a drop goal from Camille Lopez brought about three important points for France which ultimately gave them an imperative 23-21 lead.
The lead proved crucial in the end as France ultimately claimed a thrilling two-point win.
Here are the highlights from this encounter.
Final Score: France 23-21 Argentina
Match #3 - Argentina v France highlights
- Angus Gardner, who was the referee of the match, blew his whistle, and the game started.
- Nicolas Sanchez from Argentina seemed to score the first point of the game but failed to do so as he missed the penalty attempt.
- A mistake soon after from France handed Argentina yet another penalty and this time, Sanchez made no mistake as he picked up three points.
- The first try of the match came courtesy of France's Gael Fickou, who took over from Damian Penaud's initiation before Romain Ntamack picked up two more points through the conversion as France led 7-3.
- Sanchez had yet another opportunity to score but missed the chance to score as he fumbled with the ball.
- France's aggression brought about yet another try, this time courtesy of Antoine Dupont, who took over from Penaud's start to land the ball from the corner. Ntamack was on top of his game yet again as he pocketed two more points with a perfect conversion which brought about a 11-point lead for France.
- Penaud, Dupont, and Charles Ollivon were impressive on the offensive front but were held back by a strong Argentina defence unit.
- Soon, Ntamack was in focus again as France gained a penalty kick which was converted by the fly-half for a fine three-pointer.
- Argentina looked far from comfortable in the first half as minutes away from the break, France were handed yet another penalty which Ntamack took with both hands and pocketed three more points, taking his total to 11 points from the first half.
- At the half-time mark, France enjoyed a massive 20-3 lead against Argentina.
- The second half started on a positive note for Argentina as Guido Petti scored a try to bring about five important points before a two-point conversion from Nicholas Sanchez reduced the deficit to 10 points.
- France seemed a little too aggressive in the half as they were warned by match official Angus Gardner against a potential yellow card.
- Julian Montoya, who was called in as a replacement at the front row made an impression straight away by scoring a try.
- A funny moment came about in the game 15 minutes into the second half as the ball went down on the ground, but neither team had an idea as to where the ball was until Argentina managed to earn the ball 20m out.
- A penalty was called against France as Argentina's substitute Benjamin Urdapilleta made no mistake and collected three points to his name.
- France looked exhausted on the field as Argentina were awarded yet another penalty which Urdapilleta converted with ease and brought about three points. Argentina now had a 21-20 lead as France desperately looked out for scoring options.
- Camille Lopez proved to be the game-changer for his side as he scored through a drop goal from 35m out to bring about three points as France went back into the lead with the scoreline reading 23-21.
- Ntamack, who was at the top of his game all throughout missed a crucial penalty as an opportunity for France to seal the victory went begging. However, Emiliano Boffelli missed a penalty for Argentina from 50m out that eventually saw the three-time finalists France clinch a two-point win.
The match brought about a number of quality moments all through the match as both the teams produced their best efforts on the field, but in the end, France finished with a nervy two-point win.
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