A strong French side jumped out to an early lead Friday and easily beat Argentina 37-14 to win the Standard Bank Cup.
Tries from Marc Andreu, Julien Malzieu and Jerome Porical got the French going while Argentina struggled to get anything going.
It didn't cross into the French half until midway through the first period.
To compound their misery, the Argentine captain Alberto Vernet Basualdo left the field injured in the 20th minute and was replaced by Eusebio Guinazu.
Argentina finally found the ball and Martin Bustos Moyano scored after a pass from Matias Viazzo. Bustos Moyano converted to close the gap and end the first half down 25-7.
Argentina started after the break in the same lively way they ended the first half, moving the ball about with greater ease. But they couldn't break through a tight French defense and the ball stayed mostly in the middle of the pitch.
France padded their lead in the 64th minute with a second try from Malzieu. David Skrela didnt convert to leave the score 30-7.
Frances fifth and final try followed 12 minutes later with Malzieu passing to Gregory Lamboley. This time Skrela didnt miss the conversion.
Argentina managed a try near the end of the second half from Miguel De Achaval. Moyano converted to make the final score 37-14.
--- Teams:
Argentina A: Francisco Albarracin, Ignacio Mieres, Federico Martin Aramburu, Miguel Avramovic, Matias Viazzo, Martin Bustos Moyano, Juan Ignacio Gauthier, Pablo Henn, Alberto Vernet Basualdo (captain), Juan Figallo, Mariano Galarza, Esteban Lozada, Leonardo Senatore, Alejandro Abadie, Miguel De Achaval.
France: Dimitri Yachvili (captain), David Skrela, Marc Andreu, Lionel Mazars, Florian Fritz, Julien Malzieu, Jerome Porical, Fabien Barcella, Guilhem Guirado, Luc Ducalcon, Julien Pierre, Pascal Pape, Gregory Lamboley, Wenceslas Lauret, Louis Picamoles.
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