Nineteen points from the boot of full-back Melvyn Jaminet helped guide France to a 29-20 win over a spirited Argentina side at the Stade de France in the Autumn Nations Series.
Jaminet’s imperious boot punished Los Pumas on multiple occasions, with the full-back taking every opportunity he could to put Argentina to the sword.
The opening stages of action were played at a breakneck pace, with the French support oozing atmospheric electricity with every touch of the ball the hosts had.
And it was France who drew first blood on two minutes courtesy of a penalty strike from Jaminet, who split the sticks to give his side an early 3-0 lead.
Minutes later, Argentina thought they had crossed in response to Jaminet’s penalty, but were held up over the line following some slick work off the top of their attacking line-out.
On 17 minutes, Jaminet added three more points with the boot, before opposite number Emiliano Boffelli was offered a chance to reply.
Pushing his penalty wide right, Boffelli’s miss worked in Argentina’s favour, when from the resulting restart, French fly-half Mathieu Jalibert was charged down by the oncoming Pablo Matera.
The Argentina flanker pounced on the loose ball which then found its way into the hands of scrum-half Tomás Cubelli for the easiest of finishes – 7-6 Argentina after 22 minutes.
Tensions spilled over midway through the first half with referee Ben O’Keeffe opting to send Argentine flanker Marcos Kremer and French hooker Julian Marchand to the sin-bin following a fracas.
On 34 minutes, Jaminet pulled his side back in front with another penalty, before missing another shot at goal right on the stroke of half-time, meaning France went into the break 9-7 up.
After the interval, Boffelli put Los Pumas back ahead with a three-pointer but then, almost instantly, France responded with a stellar score that raised the Stade de France to its feet – Jalibert releasing oncoming debutant lock Flament, who finished with aplomb.
Les Bleus then thought they had scored another superb try when centre Gael Fickou and captain Antoine Dupont combined magnificently down the left wing to send the latter racing over.
But eagle-eyed O’Keefe spotted an infringement phases prior, handing Argentina a reprieve from what would have been a sensational French score.
Just before the hour mark, another Boffelli penalty kept Argentina in touching distance of France but the hosts had Jaminet’s boot to thank again when he pushed them into a 19-13 lead with just over 15 left to play.
France’s replacements were beginning to pay dividends, adding intensity and vigour to every attack they brought at Argentina.
And with 10 minutes left to play, a deft offload from Jalibert caught Argentina napping, allowing replacement hooker Peato Mauvaka to cross the whitewash after he evaded the clutches of last man Boffelli – with Jaminet adding the extras to give France a 26-13 lead.
Argentina were running out of time and looked to be spent after both Juan Martín González and Facundo Isa were held up over the line.
But they were handed a lifeline through the form of Mateo Carreras, who capitalised on Boffelli out-jumping Jaminet to a high ball to race over for a late converted score to make it 26-20 to France.
However, France were not about to let the win slip from their grasps late on, and a final penalty from Jaminet with the clock in the red saw the contest finish 29-20 to the hosts.
