Tokyo (AFP)

From the prayers of Cyril Baille to the immense joy of Camille Lopez: the XV of France went through all the emotions at the end of a tense match Saturday against Argentina, narrowly winning (23-21) for his entry to the World Cup.

"I said to myself: not again, please!" When Gaël Fickou makes a slight tackle in the air on Emiliano Boffelli synonymous with penalty (78:10) and therefore match point for the Pumas, the vice-captain Jefferson Poirot, then on the bench, inevitably rehash the defeats in extremis Blues in recent years (Ireland and South Africa in 2018, Wales in 2019 ...).

The left pillar then chooses not to undergo: he turns his back on the ground. "I do not even want to look at this," he says. His replacement Cyril Baille "prays" and "tries to make head movements with Camille Chat" to deconcentrate the back and Argentine striker, "even if we know that it is practically useless". And Fickou the culprit? "I watched it, cursed it all along and it worked."

Boffelli's attempt goes from nothing to the left of the posts (79:35). "It's a big sigh of relief," says Camille Lopez. "Thomas (Ramos, who gets the ball) is told to run as long as he can, to go to a corner to make time go by."

- Another 15 seconds to play -

Because there are still 15 seconds left to play, to the chagrin of Poirot who thought the match won and jumped too early to the pitch. "I was disgusted," says Bordeaux.

At Lopez the charge of the referral to 22 m. Strike to catch the ball or long to keep the Argentineans as far as possible? He opts for the second option. "Afterwards, I thought maybe it would have been better to put a recovery ball on the 40 m rather than inflicting a defensive ball."

One minute of sterile Argentinean offensives (slowly), during which the French measure their actions: the slightest penalty can be fatal. "It's really an atypical end of the match," said Baille. "We try not to make a mistake, we only defend."

Until Maxime Machenaud comes to scratch a ball from the hands of Argentina, which triggers the fury of the Argentine coach Mario Ledesma, who saw a forward. The counter-ruck is organized, it is necessary to release the ball and send it off the field. Baille is caught in the trap: "it was the longest, it lasts a pipe to go out, my arms were tied, the guys on ..."

Machenaud caught in the rally, is Ramos who plays the scrum half of service and extract for Lopez, who can finally tap and exult, fists clenched (81:46). "We were lucky," smiles Clermont. The one who forges the big destinies?

© 2019 AFP