France demolished Japan 52-12 with eight tries to the two scored by Japan. France played for the first time at the Stade de France since they were dumped out of their home World Cup by the Springboks in the quarter-finals.
France scored four tries inside the opening half an hour, blowing Japan away. Tries by Louis Bielle-Biarrey (2), Émilien Gailleton and Alexandre Roumat led to France leading 26-00 after thirty minutes of play. With six minutes to play hooker, Peato Mauvaka scored France's fifth try. This was complete and utter domination from the hosts, but Japan were not helping themselves with several unforced errors.
It took France just two minutes into this second half to score again when François Cros bulldozed his way over to extend France's lead to 38-00.
Japan's captain, Harumichi Tatekawa, finally scored Japan's first try when he scored in the corner despite Dupont's best efforts. However, Tatekawa had to leave the field injured following his try.
Five minutes later, Paul Boudehent scored France's seventh try to lead 45-07, however, Japan started to claw their way back into the game and replacement Tevita Tatafu, who impressed since coming on, intercepted and scored Japan's second try.
Paul Boudehent added his name to the scorecard with fifteen minutes still to play in the second half to extend France's lead to 52-12, and despite Japan's best efforts in the final minutes of play that was also the final score of the night.
Scorers:
France: Tries: Louis Bielle-Biarrey (2), Émilien Gailleton, Alexandre Roumat, Peato Mauvaka, François Cros, Paul Boudehent (2). Conversions: Thomas Ramos (6).
Japan: Tries: Harumichi Tatekawa, Tevita Tatafu. Conversion: Naoto Saito.
Teams
France: 15 Leo Barre, 14 Théo Attissogbé, 13 Émilien Gailleton, 12 Yoram Morgana, 11 Louis Bielle-Biarrey, 10 Thomas Ramos, 9 Antoine Dupont (c), 8 Grégory Alldritt, 7 Alexandre Roumat, 6 François Cros, 5 Emmanuel Meafou, 4 Thibaud Flament, 3 Tevita Tatafu, 2 Peato Mauvaka, 1 Jean-Baptiste Gros. Replacements: 16 Julien Marchand, 17 Reda Wardi, 18 Georges-Henri Colombe, 19 Mickaël Guillard, 20 Paul Boudehent, 21 Maxime Lucu, 22 Matthieu Jalibert, 23 Gaël Fickou.
Japan: 15 Malo Tuitama, 14 Jone Nakiabula, 13 Dylan Riley, 12 Siosaia Fifita, 11 Tomoki Osada, 10 Harumichi Tatekawa (c), 9 Naoto Saito, 8 Faula Makisi, 7 Kazuki Himeno, 6 Kanji Shimokawa, 5 Warner Deans, 4 Epineri Uluiviti, 3 Shuhei Takeuchi, 2 Mamoru Harada, 1 Takato Okabe. Replacements: 16 Kenta Masuoka, 17 Yukio Morikawa, 18 Keijiro Tamefusa, 19 Amato Fakatava, 20 Tevita Tatafu, 21 Shinobu Fujiwara, 22 Yusuke Kajimura, 23 Takuro Matsunaga.