France beat Japan 42-15 in Tokyo to end their 2026 summer tour
France closed their July 2026 Nations Championship tour with a 42-15 win over Japan in Tokyo, led by captain Maxime Lucu.
This summary was written by AI to complete the context; it is not based on a current source.
France ended their 2026 summer tour on 18 July with a 42-15 victory over Japan in Tokyo, in the Nations Championship, the new Test competition linking northern and southern hemisphere sides. The tour had also taken Les Bleus to New Zealand and Australia.
Maxime Lucu, the scrum-half, captained the side and finished with 15 points, scoring a try and kicking five conversions. Matthieu Jalibert and Maxime Lamothe each scored two tries, and Roumat also crossed the line. Japan, who scored through Kippei Ishida and Sojiro Otsuka, matched France physically in the first half and trailed 28-15 at the break. France pulled clear after scoring two quick tries early in the second half.
The result mattered as a marker of France's depth with the Rugby World Cup about a year away. Lucu's leadership in the absence of the usual captain, Antoine Dupont, was a notable feature of the tour, and it set the scene for the autumn Tests, including the match against Fiji.
Story timeline
France's autumn Test against Fiji · 3 updates
What happened before and after this story. Background events not previously covered were summarised by AI.
More in: Sport
See all →
From passion to structure: how Ali Maher could reshape Egypt's national team
Lewandowski ahead of Romania clash: this will be a different game than 6-0
Pakistan's Usman scores a career-high 33 as KEPCO outlasts Samsung Fire
