France see off Japan in scrappy Tokyo try-fest in Nations Championship

The ‌Six Nations holders took advantage of the high-tempo, unstructured match with full-back Matthieu Jalibert, lock Alexandre ‌Roumat, scrum-half Maxime Lucu and fly-half Romain Ntamack all dotting down, and ‌Lucu converting all the scores.

While Japan showed flashes of attacking brilliance, it was a ‌disappointing end to a strong run of matches which included an emphatic ‌27-10 win over Italy and a dogged 20-36 loss to Ireland in Newcastle, Australia.

France got off to a flier with Lamothe powering over from a line-out maul two minutes after ‌kick-off, an area that Japan coach Eddie Jones said ⁠cost his team.

The Brave Blossoms looked ‌shell-shocked in the opening exchanges but they showed some mettle and inched into a ​slim lead with a penalty from full-back Takuro Matsunaga and a silky piece of counter-attacking play finished off by winger Kippei Ishida.

But that ​score on the 15-minute mark would be the only time they were ahead and minutes later Jalibert, who missed training in the build-up to the game ⁠with an adductor problem, found ​himself in acres of space as a ragged Japan backpedaled towards their line.

Japan lost a man to the sin bin in the lead-up to Jalibert’s try and France took full advantage. Lock Alexandre Roumat rolled over from another driving lineout ‌before scrum-half Maxime Lucu grabbed the bonus-point try.

The Brave Blossoms rallied before the break with prop Sojiro Otsuka bulldozing through several French defenders from a close-range tap penalty to bring the scores to 15-28 at half-time.

Like the first period, France struck within minutes when play resumed: Lucu flipped a switch pass to his half-back partner Ntamack, who juggled the ball before jinking over the whitewash. Soon after, Lamothe muscled through for his second try.

France lost two players to the sin bin in the final quarter of the match but still Japan ‌could not add to their tally with the hot and humid conditions taking ​their toll on both sides.

Replacement Tiennan Costley looked to have scored moments ‌after coming on but it was ruled out for a double movement.

“We’re only going to get better from here,” Japan coach Jones told the 53,000 crowd in a post-match interview on the sidelines.

The new Nations Championship, in which 12 sides from both Northern and Southern Hemispheres compete, will ⁠return for another three matches in ⁠November before a finals weekend ‌to be held in London.

Check out the match summary here.