Penaud double takes France past Japan

Winger Damian Penaud scored twice as France beat Japan 35-17 in the Autumn Nations Series on Sunday to continue their winning run before next year's Rugby World Cup on home soil.

Penaud crossed on either side of half-time as Les Bleus claimed a 13th straight victory less than 10 months out from the tournament.

Along with the only side above them in the world rankings, Ireland, Fabien Galthie's outfit are leading contenders for the competition with the two countries meeting in the Six Nations in February.

With the hosts of the next World Cup meeting the home country of the last edition, Galthie was forced into three changes including handing scrumhalf Maxime Lucu his 11th Test appearance.

Galthie's counterpart Jamie Joseph brought in a fresh half-back combination after last weekend's heavy loss to England.

Heavy rain started to fall seconds after the anthems in front of a sold-out 34-000 capacity Le Stadium in Toulouse.

The home crowd had something to celebrate despite the downpour after just seven minutes as Les Bleus winger Damian Penaud made the most of Ryoki Yamanaka's mistake in his own in-goal area.

Toulouse fullback Thomas Ramos then made up for missing the conversion by slotting two easy penalties and the home side led 11-0 after 17 minutes.

Brave Blossoms flyhalf Seungsin Lee, brought in after last Saturday's hammering at Twickenham, opened his side's account on the quarter mark with a shot at goal to make it 11-3.

The rain stopped but the pitch and ball were left slippery before Ramos added a third penalty just after half an hour as Galthie's side led 14-3.

Les Bleus extended the advantage as Lucu set-up skipper Charles Ollivon, the pair coming from the same Basque village of Saint-Pee-sur-Nivelle, to slide over and they