AFP, TOULOUSE, France
Hosts France showed no mercy to 14-man Namibia on Sunday as they got some vital momentum for Friday's crucial Pool D World Cup clash with Ireland, winning 87-10 to post their record score in international rugby.
Vincent Clerc ran in three tries, while lock Jerome Nallet and Sebastian Chabal grabbed a brace each -- captain for the night Jean-Baptiste Elissalde scored 27 points to easily beat their 77-10 defeat of Fiji in 2001.
PHOT: AP
It was also a fitting riposte to their stunning 17-12 opening game loss to Argentina.
Cedric Heymans scored their first try -- his 10th for France -- in the seventh minute after a quick passing movement by David Marty to Frederic Michalak and left the Toulouse winger with the simple task of running it in. Elissalde missed the conversion.
However, Namibia were unfazed and came straight back as Emile Wessels dropped an excellent drop goal to make the score 5-3 in the 10th minute.
Marty ran in the hosts second try after a flowing move down the pitch and Elissalde converted to make it 12-3. Namibia's woes deepened as Wessels had to be helped off the pitch limping after just 11 minutes.
Namibia's task was made even tough in the 20th minute when referee Alain Rolland red carded Jacques Nieuwenhuis for a high tackle on Chabal and within a minute the French had driven over and Thierry Dusautoir touched down. Elissalde kicked the conversion for 19-3.
France were still making schoolboy errors highlighted when Michalak flung a wild pass inside the tryline to Marty, who had already made a series of mistakes, knocked on and was fortunate a Namibian was not on hand to touch it down.
Nallet added their fourth try just after the half hour mark, though, Rolland missed a forward pass by Damien Traille earlier in the move but nevertheless the lock's touchdown pushed France over the 1,000 points mark in World Cup history. Elissalde kicked the conversion.
Heymans then set up fellow Toulouse winger Clerc, who touched down under the posts and Elissalde duly converted as the French made the most of their one man advantage. Nallet added his second on the stroke of halftime after Chabal offloaded to him.
Julien Bonnaire added France's seventh try seven minutes after the break as the French scrum pushed their opposite numbers over the tryline. Elissalde converted to make it 47-3.
The biggest roar of the night was reserved for French lock Chabal.
His first try which took the French past the 50 mark came as the player known as "The Caveman" caught a crosskick and touched down.
Five minutes later he broke just inside the opposition's half and burst through the Namibian defense, handed off one player, broke a tackle and handed off another to touch down.
Other tries came from Elissalde, Clerc from a nicely worked move for his second, before he added his third, again aided by Heymans, and Raphael Ibanez.
Namibia, though, had the last laugh as student and center Bradley Langenhoven intercepted a pass from Yannick Jauzion and ran it back from inside his own half to touch down and they converted to give them a meagre consolation.
Memphis Grizzlies forward Brandon Clarke, 29, has died, the NBA team said in a statement on Tuesday, while the family of Jason Collins, the first openly gay man to play in a major US pro sports league, announced the former Grizzlies and Brooklyn Nets player had died after a battle with brain cancer. “We are heartbroken by the tragic loss of Brandon Clarke,” the Grizzlies said in a statement posted on social media. “Brandon was an outstanding teammate and an even better person whose impact on the organization and the greater Memphis community will not be forgotten.” The statement did not provide
Mathys Tel was hero and villain as Tottenham drew 1-1 at home to Leeds United on Monday — a result that leaves their English Premier League future hanging in the balance. The Frenchman broke the deadlock early in the second half to ease the tension at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, but then gave away a penalty with a reckless attempted clearance. In the dying minutes, Spurs were grateful to Antonin Kinsky, who produced an astonishing save to deny the visitors a win. Tottenham are now two points clear of 18th-placed West Ham United with just two games left this season. The
Houston Astros right-hander Teng Kai-wei, the only active Taiwanese pitcher in MLB, on Sunday suffered his third loss of the season, throwing a season-high 63 pitches in his second start of the year. Teng allowed three earned runs over three innings on five hits in the Astros’ 5-0 road loss to the Cincinnati Reds. He struck out one, walked one, and hit one batter among the 15 hitters he faced, raising his earned run average to 3.12. It was the Astros’ second attempt to use the 27-year-old Taiwanese as a starter, after he had established himself as a reliable bullpen
‘DONE IT ALL’: LeBron James is now out of contract with the Lakers and would head into the off season as a free agent with uncertainty swirling around his future LeBron James on Monday said he would take time to consider his future after the Los Angeles Lakers were swept out of the NBA playoffs by the Oklahoma City Thunder in what could turn out to be the final game of his career. James, 41, delivered a typically defiant performance with 24 points and 12 rebounds, but it was not enough to prevent the Lakers from falling 115-110 as the Thunder completed a 4-0 sweep in the Western Conference semi-finals series. The four-time NBA champion is now out of contract with the Lakers and would head into the off season
RSS