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Jaminet powers France to comfortable win over Fiji

France's fullback Melvyn Jaminet kicks the ball during the pre-World Cup friendly rugby union international match between France and Fiji at The Stade de la Beaujoire in Nantes, western France on August 19, 2023. (Photo by LOIC VENANCE / AFP via Getty Images)

France have seen off Fiji by 34-17 at Stade de la Beaujoire in their second-to-last Rugby World Cup warm-up fixture.

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The hosts scored three tries to two but the boot of Melvyn Jaminet powered France to victory, slotting seven of eight for a personal haul of 19.

Jaminet kicked three penalty goals to build a 9-0 lead over the Fijians in the first 10 minutes.

Fiji replied through the boot of Caleb Muntz but French hooker Peato Mauvaka opened the try scoring after right wing Louis Bielle-Biarrey broke away down the right side with searing pace. Jaminet’s conversion took France out to 16-3.

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Avg. Points Scored
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Avg. Points Scored
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Fiji responded with a try to their own hooker Tevita Ikanivere but prop Uini Atonio crashed over before half-time to take a comfortable 21-10 lead.

Another Jaminet penalty kept the home side comfortably ahead, before captain Semi Radradra scored next to the posts stretching out to find the line.

Radradra’s effort kept Fiji in the game at 24-17 but reserve flanker Sekou Macalou killed off the contest with a well-read intercept.

He picked off halfback Frank Lomani from the lineout and sprinted away to score.

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France named their World Cup squad on Monday before a final hitout against the winless Wallabies next weekend.

Fiji have a final warm-up clash against England before opening their campaign against Wales.

France 34 (Peato Mauvaka, Uini Atonio, Sekou Macalou tries; Melvyn Jaminet 2 cons, 5 pens)
Fiji 17 (Tevita Ikanivere, Semi Radradra tries; Caleb Muntz 2 con, pen)

 

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3 Comments
D
DarstedlyDan 460 days ago

I thought Fiji did ok, but they made quite a few fairly basic handling and tactical errors, and lacked cohesiveness. Not a surprise given how few matches they play. They will be much better for this and next week’s match, but unfortunately and like many tier 2 nations, they just don’t get to play enough. If they did, they would win games like yesterday’s. WR needs to fix this; however there are too many tier 1 nations who don’t want to risk their seat at the top table for anything meaningful to be done.

g
giorgi 461 days ago

I do not think that was comfortable win for France. Fiji performed well and created a lot of problems for the French side. Looking forward to watching England vs Fiji. That test game will shed more light on Fiji's potential.

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Hellhound 21 minutes ago
France put World Cup pain behind them with unbeaten run in November

France is starting to look like they are finally over their WC headache, although they were lucky that NZ had a very bad game. The Argies as usual is one game good, the next bad. If they can sort that out and be more consistent, they could become contenders for the WC.


NZ, Argentina (if they are more consistent), and now the Wallabies too is in an upward curve (can they be consistent?), as well as Fiji(as inconsistent as Argentina) looks like possible contenders. The Boks will be as usual a huge threat to defend their title. Things are looking up for the South, so the North should rightfully beware of the Southern Hemisphere threat.


With the French looking dangerous, the English with their close runs (mostly a mindset problem) and the Scottish seems to be the NH main contenders. The Irish is good, but not excellent anymore. They are more overbearing and with their glory days mostly gone with old players hanging on by a thread, by 2027 if they don't start adding in the younger players, they won't make it past yet another WC Quarter final. The problem is that their youngsters, while good is nothing special.


That is just 8 teams without the Irish that can become real WC contenders. Lots of hickups to be sorted still for these teams, excluding the Boks to become a threat. Make no mistake, the top Tier is much closer than people realise and the 2027 WC will be a really great WC, possibly the best contended WC ever.

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