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France 33 United States 9
France 33 (Huget, Raka, Fickou, Serin & Poirot tries; Ramos conversion, Lopez 3 conversions) USA 6 (MacGinty 3 penalties)
Second half
80th minute - Lopez converts from wide to keep his perfect kicking record for the night, as the final siren sounds.
That's an ugly win that looks flattering on the scoreboard - the Americans just fell away in the final 13 minutes, conceding three converted tries.
The bonus-point result keeps France on track to reach the quarter-finals and their showdown against England will likely decide who crosses over against - potentially - Wales and Australia.
79th minute - TRY to Poirot!
French fowards win the lineout and maul to the line, where Poirot emerges from a pile of bodies to claim the try.
78th minute - France earn a penalty on the US 10 and kick for touch. One last raid.
76th minute - Passes not going to hand for the Americans, they're losing round again.
75th minute - France feed a defensive scrum and kick ahead. US tidy up, but De Haas' kick is partially charged down. Ntamack replaces Guitoune.
73rd minute - Americans have ball in hand, but they're losing ground. Peterson takes a pass and finds a gap, but loses possession, when challenged.
70th minute - TRY to Serin!
Lopez puts in a crossfield kick, and Raka takes a difficult catch and a head-high tackle at the same time. He frees the ball to Serin, who scoots past the tiring defenders to score.
Lopez converts.
69th minute - That should just ease France out of the upset zone. They bowl over MacGinty and steal possession at the breakdown.
67th minute - TRY to Fickou!
Finally, the French forwards rumble towards the posts and when the ball is freed to the backs, Fickou spins over for a try in his 50th game. Lopez converts.
65th minute - US hooker Taufetee makes way for Fawsitt. Serin is on at halfback for France.
64th minute - MacGinty lines up the kick at goal and slots it. Now France will be sweating.
62nd minute - Raka spills the ball again, US hack the ball through and earn a penalty on the 22.
61st minute - More untidiness from France, but Lopez finds a long touch.
59th minute - From the scrum, De Haas makes a great clearance, just outside the French 22.
58th minute - Pinkelman on for No.8 Dolan for the Eagles. France knock on again - messy, messy.
57th minute - More subs now, Vhaamahina for Camara and Medard for Ramos.
56th minute - US have mades some changes now, with Mullen and De Haas on for Lamositele and halfback Davies.
55th minute - This is probably the best US attack of the game, but the chip kick is claimed on the full by Raka and the pressure is relieved.
54th minute - Raka surges, but US somehow spoilt that attack and advance upfield.
53rd minute - MacGinty has to run from behind his own line and finds Iosefo. They eventually clear.
52nd minute - US feed to defensive scrum. The scrum retreats and the Americans are struggling to clear.
50th minute - Guitoune splits the defence, but his long pass to Raka is ruled forward.
49th minute - MacGinty kicks to the 22, but Ramos marks it and clears.
48th minute - US have a scrum feed on the French 10.
47th minute - Fickou makes a long run upfield for France, but the ball is knocked loose in a tackle and the Americans exit their territory.
45th minute - France make changes in the front row - Baille is off for Poirot, Setiano replaced by Slimani. Guirado replaced Chat at hooker at the break.
44th minute - From the lineout, Setiano surges towards the line, but France are penalised for holding on in the breakdown. US clear.
43rd minute - France win the lineout and maul to the goal-line, but the US turn the ball over and MacGinty clears - just.
42nd minute - French kick off and regain possession. They're playing under advantage and knock on, so we go back to the original penalty.
France go for an attacking lineout.
First half
France 12 (Huget & Raka tries; Ramos conversion) USA 6 (MacGinty 2 penalties)
France are clearly the better side here, but their discipline and handling are letting them down. That may yet come back to bite them, because the underdog Americans only need a sniff of victory and the upset could be on.
40th minute - MacGinty chips over the advancing defence, Raka gathers on the full, but the ball is knocked loose in a tackle and the US have an attacking scrum.
Machenaus kick for touch and the French look relieved to reach halftime.
38th minute - US win another defensive penalty to clear. This game is becoming a whistle-fest, with France doing most of the infringing.
37th minute - US penalised and France clearing. That's the first penalty against the Americans.
35th minute - Americans badly botch a lineout and France charge through, but are penalised.
34th minute - French try to mount an attack, but the last pass to Raka bounces into touch. Clumsy!
32nd minute - Free kick for France from the scrum, but they tap quickly and the US almost intercept.
31st minute - MacGinty lines up a shot at goal and slots it. The kick-off from Lopez doesn't go 10 metres, so US get the ball back on halfway.
30th minute - US playing under advantage here, they lose the ball and hack ahead, but dead. O'Keeffe gives a double blast, but it's just another warning.
29th minute - Davies is trying to feed the scrum, but the turf is really cutting up. Off the scrum Iosefo angles towards the posts and the US forwards rumble.
27th minute - MacGinty grubbers to the corner and the French are scrambling to tidy it up. They're held up in a maul and the Americans win a feed to a scrum just a few metres out from the line.
26th minute - Lopez clears his line and Teo makes ground for the Americans.
24th minute - TRY to Raka! Picamoles sets up the ruck and Lopez left-foots high to the corner, over Iosefo's head, where the big right wing simply runs onto the ball to dot down.
Ramos misses his conversion from wide.
23rd minute - The Americans are lacking accuracy with their handling and can't break out of their own territory. Picamoles steals the ball again and France mount another attack.
21st minute - French are trying to build an attack and Raka looks menacing, but Picamoles quick flick on goes astray and it's a knock-on.
20th minute - Americans gather the short kick-off and MacGinty probes, before Two chips ahead.
18th minute - US win the lineout and centre Brache makes ground up the middle. France are penalised in front of their posts and MacGinty converts to narrow the margin.
17th minute - France penalised on their put-in, so US will clear their half.
16th minute - French have an attacking scrum on the US 10m line. The turf isn't stable and the front rows go down.
15th minute - Lopez kicks high again and the Americans make a hash of it - that's Scully. They're struggling to defuse the first-five's bombs.
14th minute - Defensive scrum for the US, Teo takes the ball one-off and cuts back infield. Davies clears.
13th minute - France win a lineout and Lopez chips over the top again, but they can't regather cleanly.
12th minute - Great defence from France, they maul the Americans off their line and earn a defensive lineout. Machenaus clears.
11th minute - The American forwards maul towards the line and France are forced to give away another penalty. Picamoles is warned. US want another lineout.
10th minute - Iosefo makes a break down the left and the French are penalised for offside.
Ninth minute - US earn a penalty and clear. They win the lineout and start to build phases.
Sixth minute - TRY to Huget! Setiano makes a break and Lopez puts a kick over the defensive line for his wing to grab and open the scoring.
Ramos converts.
Fifth minute - First scrum of the game, US feed. Solid enough platform for them to clear.
Third minute - McGinty clears for the US, but it's still inside the 22. Attacking opportunity for France, but Guitoune spills the ball.
Second minute - France kick high and Davis spills the ball. The French secure possession and attack for the first time, but they're stripped of the ball in a tackle.
First minute - Referee Ben O'Keeffe signals time on and the US kick off first. The French clear to halfway.
As the anthems are being played, the rain starts to pelt down, but then back off. Obviously, this will be a factor as the game continues.
*****
Apparently this game has narrowly avoided a typhoon that could have forced a weather-affected result.
There's blue sky in the coverage, so hard to see how conditions will affect the contest.
Louis Picamoles will captain France for the first time and his experience will be crucial to their success tonight.
The Fukuoka crowd will observe a moment's silence for the death of former French President Jacques Chirac earlier this week.
*****
Kia ora, konichiwa and welcome to Newshub's live coverage of the Rugby World Cup Pool C clash between France and the United States.
While these two nations have rarely met on the rugby field, their rivalry has history - the Americans' only victory over the French came 75 years ago, when they won the Olympic gold medal in Paris.
Their encounters have been few and far between since, with their last meeting in 2004, when France emerged 39-31 victors at Hartford.
While 'Les Bleus' have a rich history at the World Cup, without ever quite winning the trophy, the USA are still trying to find their way out of pool play for the first time.
Early indications are they won't be successful this time round, after an opening 45-7 loss to England.
On the other hand, France are on track to progress to the next phase, with a late drop-goal win over Argentina in their opener.
You never quite know which version of the French side will show up and they have named a second-string line-up for this clash.
France: 1-Cyril Baille, 2-Camille Chat, 3-Emerick Setiano, 4-Bernard Le Roux, 5-Paul Gabrillagues, 6-Arthur Iturria, 7-Yacouba Camara, 8-Louis Picamoles, 9-Maxime Machenaus, 10-Camille Lopez, 11-Yoann Huget, 12-Gael Fickou, 13-Sofiane Guitoune, 14-Alivereti Raka, 15-Thomas Ramos
Replacements: 16-Guilhem Guirado, 17-Jefferson Poirot, 18-Rabah Slimani, 19-Sebastien Vahaamahina, 20-Gregory Alldritt, 21-Baptiste Serin, 22-Romain Ntamack, 23-Maxime Medard
United States: 1-Eric Fry, 2-Joe Taufetee, 3-Titi Lamositele, 4-Nate Brakeley, 5-Nick Civetta, 6-Tony Lamborn, 7-Hanco Germishuys, 8-Cam Dolan, 9-Shaun Davies, 10-AJ MacGinty, 11-Martin Iosefo, 12-Bryce Campbell, 13-Marcel Brache, 14-Blaine Scully, 15-Mike Teo
Replacements: 16-Dylan Fawsitt, 17-Olive Kilifi, 18-Paul Mullen, 19-Greg Peterson, 20-Ben Pinkelman, 21-Ruben De Haas, 22-Will Magie, 23-Thretton Palamo
*****
Five Rugby World Cup games you must watch in Week Three
With 10 games until our next rest day at the Rugby World Cup, we're into the real crunch time in pool play.
Many teams are now in must-win mode to advance to the quarter-finals, while others are now manoeuvring for the best draw in knockout play.
Two All Blacks games over those five days, but neither should provide too much drama. They're against the two lowest-ranked teams in the competition - Canada and Namibia - so strictly optional viewing.
The most contentious aspect of those encounters will be around those players (like Rieko Ioane) trying to break (back) into the top line-up… and whether beating up on the playground weaklings should count towards that end.
Those games aside, here's the pick of the others…
Ireland v Russia
6:15pm, Thursday, October 3
TAB: Ireland $1.001, Russia $151
Normally, this would be a yawner, with the Russians extremely unlikely to provide any real resistance to the recent world No.1 performers.
But after that shock defeat to Japan, all eyes are on the Irish to see how they will respond to this poke in the eye.
Ireland have already played the two next best teams in this pool, so if they can grab the bonus point wins from Russia and their last outing against Manu Samoa, they should ease into the next phase.
South Africa v Italy
10:45pm, Friday, October 4
TAB: South Africa $1.02, Italy $13
The Springboks showed enough in their opener against New Zealand that they shouldn't find the Italians too much of an obstacle - but after bonus-point wins over the tournament easybeats, the Azzurri currently top Pool B.
They're clearly the third best team in this pool and the most likely to pull off an upset, if South Africa come with their 'C' game.
Italy have only beaten the 'Boks once in 14 previous meetings.
England v Argentina
9pm, Friday, October 4
TAB: England $1.17, Argentina $4.65
In their opener against France, the Pumas seemed to have victory in the palms of their hands, only to let it slip away to a late drop goal.
They're capable of troubling England, who haven't really changed out of second gear yet, but this will be their last throw of the dice. Lose here and they're playing for a spot at the next tournament.
If the English lose, they face a must-win against the world's most unpredictable team. They should do themselves a favour and end their anxiety now.
Argentina haven't won this match-up in more than a decade.
Japan v Samoa
11:30pm, Saturday, October 5
TAB: Japan $1.13, Samoa $5.40
OK, so they beat Ireland and threw their pool into disarray - a group where finishing second is only marginally better than finishing third.
The 'Brave Blossoms' have been here before, after toppling South Africa in 2015, and still couldn't reach the quarter-finals, so this is just the kind of game that could derail their aspirations again.
Samoa's 34-0 drubbing from Scotland showed they are not the same team that pulled off some the greatest upsets in the history of this tournament - but they do have an 11-4 head-to-head record against the Japanese.
France v Tonga
8:45pm, Sunday, October 6
TAB: France $1.01, Tonga $12
Realistically, this shouldn't be a thing for the French, even if they have a bad day.
But they had just such a bad day eight years ago, when they lost 19-14 to the Pacific Islanders in Wellington.
We don't know too much about this version of the French - they will face the United States four days before this fixture - but they went close to winning that 2011 final despite the Tongan defeat, so absolutely anything is possible.
We do know that this Tongan team isn't too flash, but France are also the only tier-one side they've ever beaten twice.
Newshub.
