MY ACCOUNT
France boss Fabien Galthie was impressed with the way his youthful Bleus side performed as they made key adjustments to defeat Japan.
The visitors triumphed 42-23 in Aichi on Saturday, the first part of a two-game tour against the Brave Blossoms that follows their triumph in the Six Nations.
Damian Penaud bagged a double while Melvyn Jaminet posted a 17-point haul as the visitors outscored their hosts by five tries to two, albeit in a contest closer than the final scoreline suggested.
Galthie took the opportunity to blood some fresh faces, with Thomas Jolmes and Yoan Tanga handed debuts from the start and Thomas Lavault introduced at half-time for his first Test appearance too.
Speaking afterwards, the coach was happy to see his side deliver at Toyota Stadium, especially with the Test having been level at 13-13 at the interval.
“Our goal was to win,” he said. “You have to take into account that it is a young team, with very little collective experience. They are only 25 years old on average.
“We adjusted what we wanted to do and couldn’t do for a lot of reasons, including the Japanese intensity.
“We were always a little behind on collisions, on defensive substitutions, on possession – we had to stop observing and find our bearings, trigger the first offensive and defensive steps.
“We made mistakes in a place where we didn’t usually make mistakes but we managed to find the solutions, a key opens all the doors.”
France will face Japan again next week in the second game of their series, in Tokyo on July 9.
