History Of Rugby Union Matches Between Argentina And France
France's national rugby union team first played Argentina in 1949 when they undertook a two-test tour of the latter country. France won both matches. Argentina did not manage a win over France until their 16th meeting in 1985, under the captaincy of Hugo Porta.
France has been Argentina's most frequent Test match opponent. France played a significant role in the early development of Argentinian rugby in which the two countries played each other 13 times between 1949 and 1977. In total the two countries have met 45 times, with France winning 32 games, Argentina 12 and one game drawn.
The teams have played each other three times at Rugby World Cup tournaments: In 1999 France won a quarter-final, and in 2007 Argentina beat France 17-12 in the tournament-opening pool game and again 34-10 in the playoff for third and fourth place after Argentina had lost to tournament winners South Africa in the semi-final. Even though Argentina had shown strong form in the year leading up to the tournament (winning 10 of 13 Test matches plus a one-point loss to France), the opening-game win was regarded as an upset by the media.
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