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This will be the first time this French side have taken to the field since their three-test series down under in July.
Those three outings against the Wallabies were separated by the finest margins, with a maximum of three points separating any of the games in a 2-1 series defeat for the French, though it should be noted that it was almost an entirely second string side that toured, and against a weaker outfit and with a stronger side, they should have no problems against their rivals here.
Argentina travel to Paris off the back of six consecutive defeats in the Rugby Championship, which can only be considered a step backward having gone W1-D2-L1 in the 2020 limited renewal against Australia and New Zealand.
Those six defeats also come after a two game tour of Wales, in which they went W1-D1 against the Six Nations Champions, so they would have been full of confidence after that.
While there’s no shame in losing to the three highest ranked sides in World Rugby, it’s the manner of some of the defeats that will be of concern to Mario Ledesma and his coaching staff.
France -15 Handicap
Indeed, they didn’t manage to get within 15 points in any of those games, and away on French soil they might be in for a tough evening.
Ignoring that weaker side tour of Australia, France have now won 11 of their 15 outings since the World Cup, losing to England (twice) and Scotland (twice) in that time. Three of those four defeats also came away from home, so there’s little doubt for us that they’ll come out on top.
Thomas Gallo and Mateo Carreras make their debut for the visitors here, and at the ripe ages of 22 and 21 respectively, they highlight that this is very much an Argentina side in transition, and when comparing it to this Toulouse influenced, star-studded France backline, it’s hard to see where they’re going to get any joy.
The handicap line is currently sitting around the 15-point mark, and considering the recent form of both sides, as well as the relative strengths of the teams announced, we have the get the hosts onside to cover that mark.
Les Bleus have won each of the last three meetings and while the most recent came by just two points at the world cup, the two previous victories came by 15 and 27 points, while when excluding the top seven in the world rankings and Wales, they’ve also covered that line in each of their last three matches (Italy twice and Fiji).
PREDICTION:
FRANCE -15 HANDICAP
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