Pumas show greater hunger

France 12 Argentina 17: Occasionally fate smiles on the downtrodden. Argentina have tried to plea-bargain a place in both the Tri-Nations and Six Nations, the South Americans world rugby's wandering nomads in search of regular top-class games. They may still struggle to gain a place but last night in Paris they produced a compelling argument on the strength of a wonderfully gritty victory over the World Cup hosts.

It was a thoroughly merited victory, founded on the virtues of work ethic and the priceless ability to take their opportunities, or at least enough of them. It was a brilliant team effort but arguably the most eye-catching contribution came from Felipe Contepomi playing alongside his brother Manuel in the centre.

He was at his irresistible best on a night when France misfired horribly. Preconceptions quickly evaporated into the warm Parisian night. France may have come into this match buoyed by impressive pre-tournament victories, but that currency of confidence was shredded in the opening throes of this absorbing contest and was devalued appreciably as errors mounted through the opening 40 minutes.

Maybe it was a slight hint of arrogance or perhaps an expectation that on home soil they were invincible but in reality it was the imperfection of their patterns that undermined their ambition.

France threw too many 50/50 passes out of the tackle, consistently gambling only to turn up beaten dockets. .

The key moment in the game came when the French centre Damien Traille caught an up-and-under and burst forward. He found Remy Martin in space and the Argentine defenders were thin on the ground 40 metres from their own line.

Horacio Agulla brilliantly read Martin's intended pass and immediately counter attacked before passing to the supporting Manuel Contepomi, who released the flying fullback Ignacio Corletto on a 45 metre arching run for a superb try.

It was potentially a difference of 14 points but Felipe Contepomi hit the post with the conversion, his only unsuccessful place kick of the half, as he landed four penalties including a thundering one from inside his own half.

It nudged Argentina into a 17-9 interval lead, France's response coming through the boot of outhalf David Skrela, who posted three penalties.

Argentina were sharp and aggressive from the first whistle and while they were rarely adventurous with the exception a couple of sumptuous breaks from Felipe Contepomi and one wonderful piece of handling, they contested everything.

This was epitomised in their ability to chase and reclaim garryowens and turn over ball at ruck time. France lacked precision and patience, unwilling to build through the phases and gifting too many turnovers; they were thinking three steps ahead but forgot to complete the first one.

The irony is that their defence was resolute except when undermined by their own turnovers or indiscipline. Credit though must go to Argentina, who contested the set pieces with tremendous hunger, albeit that they were pushed over their own ball from an attacking five-metre scrum.

Felipe Contepomi kicked brilliantly from the placed ball and his general game was no less ebullient but this was a team effort. They also rode their luck, particularly early in the second half when France drove a lineout 35 metres to within inches of the Argentine line.

Referee Tony Spreadbury signalled a penalty for the home side and applied the advantage only for Argentina to force a turnover. It was a marginal call in the sense play might have been brought back; on occasion fortune favours the underdog.

The French were beginning to find more of a rhythm but their back play was still far too lateral and the inside passes only sent the ball carrier into traffic, forcing him to skip sideways and present an easy target for the tackler.

Argentina intelligently fanned out, France failing to commit defenders by drifting and closing down precious space.

Skrela missed an easy penalty on 58 minutes and for all France's dominance of possession and territory it failed to translate to the scoreboard. The French outhalf did tack on three points to reduce the deficit to five, pretty much his last act in the game as coach Bernard Laporte sought inspiration from the bench.

Sebastien Chabal, Julien Bonnaire and Freddie Michalak - the latter for the second time having earlier been a blood replacement - were summoned to rescue a script that few in the capacity crowd would dare have countenanced.

When Michalak missed a kickable penalty soon after it seemed to infuse the flagging Argentines with hope it might be their night if they could just summon enough resolve from weary legs.

They fanned out and scrambled brilliantly, shoring up initial line breaches with brilliant cover tackling. They kicked long and chased hard, forcing the French to run from deep, and all the while the clock ticked by, France's ambition looking increasingly forlorn, desperation etched on faces as they sought an unlikely escape.

It didn't come because the mistakes continued to pockmark their patterns.

Felipe Contepomi twice had opportunities to offer his team a less fraught passage to the final whistle but his place-kicks slipped wide of the uprights.

In the end it didn't matter, Argentina's victory a homily to guts, character, self belief and a group of players who excelled as a team, driven by an unquenchable spirit.

Scoring sequence: 3 mins: F Contepomi penalty, 0-3; 6: Skrela penalty, 3-3; 9: F Contepomi penalty, 3-6; 26: F Contepomi penalty, 3-9; 30: Corletto try, 3-14; 33: Skrela penalty, 6-14; 37: F Contepomi penalty, 6-17; 40 (+2): Skrela penalty, 9-17. 62: Skrela penalty, 12-17.

FRANCE: C Heymans; A Rougerie, Y Jauzion, D Traille, C Dominici; D Skrela, P Mignoni; O Milloud, R Ibanez (capt), P de Villiers; F Pelous, J Thion; S Betsen, R Martin, I Harinordoquy. Replacements: F Michalak for Traille (15-27 mins); D Szarzewski for Ibanez, S Chabal for Pelous, J Bonnaire for Martin (all 62 mins); Michalak for Skrela (63 mins); JB Elissalde for Mignoni (76 mins).

ARGENTINA: I Corletto; L Borges, M Contepomi, F Contepomi, H Agulla; J M Hernandez, A Pichot (capt); R Roncero, M Ledesma, M Scelzo; C I Fernandez Lobbe, P Albacete; L Ostiglia, JM Fernandez Lobbe, JM Leguizamon. Replacements: R Alvarez Kairelis for I Fernandez Lobbe (32 mins); H Senillosa for M Contepomi (49-53 mins); G Bonorino for Selzo (68 mins); Senillosa for M Contepomi, M Durand for Ostiglia (both 77 mins).

Referee: Tony Spreadbury (England).