France qualify for quarters in nailbiter against Tonga

France qualified for the Rugby World Cup quarterfinals on Sunday with a nailbiting 23-21 win against Tonga that sets up a winner-takes-all clash with England to top Pool C.

First-half tries by Virimi Vakatawa and man-of-thematch Alivereti Raka were enough to secure the win for Les Bleus against a spirited Tongan side that competed throughout a tense encounter at the Kumamoto Stadium.

Tonga topped the try-scoring count three-two against a French side that again produced a stop-start performance as they did in their first two games against Argentina and the US.

“We suffered again for yet another match,” French coach Jacques Brunel grumbled.

“We started well, we missed a lot of chances to stretch the gap. We missed three or four and then we tightened up.

“There was tension, errors, we cannot manage the second half, especially at the start,” an unhappy Brunel said.

In the end, it was three penalties by Romain Ntamack that got France through to a quarterfinal likely against either Wales or Australia from Pool D – though Fiji still have a mathematical chance of a lasteight spot.

For the first six minutes, the French flair was on full display as they raced to a 10-0 lead, roared on by a chorus of allez Les Bleus from the crowd.

That was to prove an important buffer as Tonga fought back to trail by only three points at 17-14 early in the second half, the heavier Pacific

island pack troubling France at scrum time.

When Ntamack penalties extended the French lead to nine points, the tireless Tongans rallied to score a third try right at the death.

While England have sailed through their first three matches, an injury-hit France have found life more difficult and Brunel selected his third halfback pairing in as many matches with Baptiste Serin at scrumhalf linking up with Ntamack.

Brunel also made 11 changes from the last outing against the US to take the field with arguably the strongest available lineup.

Tonga coach Toutai Kefu declared himself definitely frustrated with the result.

“Again we didn’t get off to the best of starts and, in the end, that probably told the difference,” he said. –