France beat Japan to end southern series on a high

TOKYO: France defeated Japan 42-15 on Saturday in humid conditions at Tokyo's National Stadium, ending their Nations Championship southern hemisphere campaign with a comfortable victory.

The Six Nations champions ran in six tries against a Japan side that continued to compete but was ultimately outmatched. The result left France with wins over Australia and Japan and a defeat to New Zealand from their three matches, while Japan finished with a victory over Italy and losses to Ireland and France.

France captain Maxime Lucu said the team had the longer-term picture in mind.

We know the World Cup is a year away and we had that in our minds

He added:

We've played three big matches against southern hemisphere teams and we have three more in November. We go back with two victories and we are happy.

The match was played in 28 Celsius heat and high humidity before a crowd of more than 50,000, with forecast rain failing to arrive. Matthieu Jalibert and Maxime Lamothe each scored twice for France, while Alexandre Roumat and Lucu also crossed. For Japan, Kippei Ishida and Sojiro Otsuka scored in the first half.

France wing Theo Attissogbe said his side had expected a strong challenge from the hosts.

We knew that Japan would fight very hard and we were ready for them

He added:

It was a tough battle but in the end we are happy to get our second win.

France take control after early exchanges

Both sides fielded entirely different front rows from their previous games in anticipation of a physical contest. France struck in the second minute, winning a lineout and driving over for Lamothe to score the opening try.

The visitors then suffered disruption when flanker Lenni Nouchi and lock Florian Verhaege both went off for concussion checks. Japan took advantage, first adding a penalty and then scoring through Ishida, who broke clear in the 15th minute.

France responded through Jalibert, and Japan lock Harry Hockings was sin-binned in the aftermath. Roumat, playing his first international since February 2025, added another try four minutes later to strengthen France's grip on the game. Lucu then went over for France's fourth try, although Otsuka scored with four minutes left in the first half to keep Japan in touch.

Second-half tries seal the result

Jalibert scored again two minutes after the restart, and Lamothe completed his double less than 10 minutes later as France pulled clear. Jalibert was later sin-binned midway through the second half for an illegal tackle.

Japan coach Eddie Jones said his replacements had made a positive impact.

The finishers did really well for us

He added:

The last 20 minutes, I think we had the best of the play.

Japan were denied another try when substitute Tiennan Costly crossed shortly after coming on, but the television match official ruled it out.