France bounce back with record win

TOULOUSE, France -- France went some way to erasing the memory of their disastrous defeat by Argentina when they ran up their record score in international rugby by overpowering Namibia 87-10 in Toulouse.

The Namibians daunting task became insurmountable from the 20th minute when referee Alain Rolland red carded Jacques Nieuwenhuis for a high tackle on Sebastian Chabal.

France ran riot and set themselves up for the crucial Group D meeting with Ireland on Friday.

Vincent Clerc scored three tries, lock Jerome Nallet and Chabal grabbed a brace each and captain for the night Jean-Baptiste Elissalde scored 27 points as France surpassed their 77-10 defeat of Fiji in 2001.

Cedric Heymans scored the first try - his 10th for France - in the seventh minute but Elissalde missed the conversion.

Namibia responded with an excellent drop goal from Emile Wessels but Marty capped a flowing move with a try and Elissalde converted before Wessels limped off.

Immediately after the dismissal of Nieuwenhuis Thierry Dusautoir touched down. and Elissalde converted.

Nallet added the fourth try which took France past 1,000 points in the World Cup and it was followed by scores from Clerc and Nallet.

Julien Bonnaire added France's seventh try seven minutes after the break and Chabal delighted the crowd with a brace.

Other tries came from Elissalde, Clerc (two) and Raphael Ibanez.

Namibia finished on a high note when center Bradley Langenhoven intercepted a pass from Yannick Jauzion and ran it back from inside his half to touch down.

Tonga, two players short in the closing moments, broke a nine-match losing sequence and damaged Samoa's hopes of reaching the quarterfinals by beating them 19-15 win in Montpellier.

The Tongan Sea Eagles backed up their opening 25-15 win over United States to remain unbeaten in the tournament with eight points and lie second in Pool A one point behind South Africa and four points ahead of England.

"This is one of the tops. To win two games at the World Cup is a major achievement," coach Quddus Fielea said.

The Tongans lack of self-discipline could have proved costly, though, and they had to survive the last four minutes minus two players.

Flanker Hale T Pole was red-carded in the 72nd minute and replacement Toma Toke was yellow carded with four minutes left.

Under-manned Tonga had to withstand a determined finish from Samoa, but they clung on tenaciously to the fulltime whistle.

The key moment came when Tonga center Epeli Taione scored a try under a pile of bodies and fly-half Pierre Hola converted for a 16-12 lead with 20 minutes left.

Fiji beat Canada 29-16 at the Millennium Stadium, Cardiff, and gave themselves a chance of reaching the quarterfinals for the first time since 1987.

The Pacific islanders moved into second place in Pool B behind Australia, piling the pressure on to Wales whom they will face in Nantes on September 29 with the prize of a last eight place at stake.

Fiji were coasting 15-6 at the interval but the Canadians dragged themselves back to 22-16 before Fiji grabbed a crucial bonus point thanks to a last minute try from full-back Kameli Ratuvou.

Canada, who had lost to Wales in their opener despite leading 17-9, needed to win to stay in contention for a last-eight place, a stage they have not reached since 1991. E-mail to a friend