Rugby World Cup 2015: France 41-18 Canada – Frederic Michalak masterclass inspires Les Bleus
To France the spoils. To Canada the glory.
Les Bleus may have run away with the game in the final 15 minutes to add some polish to the scoreboard but, for long periods, they were given a fright by the Canadians, despite them going into the game on the back of two defeats in the tournament so far.
And for a period either side of half-time they had the French reeling with some thrilling running rugby that had a record MK: Stadium crowd of more than 28,000 lapping it up.
Ultimately, however, the European powerhouses had the nous and know-how to get the job done as they qualified for the quarter-finals and took over top spot in Pool D from Ireland with a bonus point victory.
And it was a victory orchestrated by Frederic Michalak. Now 32, the often erractic but sometimes imperious fly-half had one of those games where he looks like the best rugby player on the planet.
It was his moment of brilliance that resulted in France opening the scoring with the quickest try of the World Cup so far after just three minutes.
Michalak may not always do the simple things well, but he can do things other players can’t - and that’s exactly what he did. A gliding run saw him leave two Canadian defenders clutching at air before he produced a sublime back of the hand pass to send Wesley Forfana over the line.
Michalak added the conversion and, 12 minutes later he made the scoreline 10-0 with a penalty, in the process becoming his country’s top points scorer in the World Cup with 125, one ahead of Thierry Lacroix.
Canada then lost captain Tyler Ardron to injury and, when Guillem Guirado emerged from the bottom of the pile clutching the ball following a powerful surge from the French forwards - with Michalak again nailing the conversion to make it 17-0 - it looked like being an extremely long night for the men in red.
What followed, though, had the crowd roaring as Canada immediately gathered the restart and recycled the ball a couple of times before DTH van der Merwe produced a scintillating finish to race over. Nathan Hirayama duly obliged with the resulting conversion.
At 17-7, people may have thought Canada had enjoyed their moment in the sun, but not so. Just four minutes later they scored again, hooker Aaron Carpenter burrowing over from close range. This time, Hirayama couldn’t convert, however.
But at 17-12, you wondered if French fragility would rear its head. This side appears to be made of sterner stuff, however, and responded with a third score of their own with another pushover try, this time finished off by prop Rabah Slimani.
Michalak again made no mistake with the kick to ensure Les Bleus went in at half-time with a relatively comfortable 24-12 lead.
The Canucks refused to lie down though and, within 14 minutes of the restart, they had reduced the deficit to just six points, courtesy of two Hirayama penalties as they pinned the French back in their own half.
Unsurprisingly, however, they were unable to maintain that surge as France turned up the heat in the closing stages.
Pascal Pape and debutant Remy Grosso both scored tries as France took their tally to five to make the final score 41-18, a scoreline that, in truth, does Canada something of an injustice.