On dark winter evenings, the flat landscape of Saint-Denis can feel like Siberia. Last night, the icy winds whipped around Avenue Jules Rimet and Rue Henri Delaunay like a gaucho’s boleadora.

Icy sleet and snow had permeated the capital in the lead up, making the brightly lit cafés and bistros look a much more inviting proposition than a cavernous, bitterly cold stadium.

Stade de France hosted Les Bleus final international of 2024 against Argentina. A team that ruined their home 2007 Rugby World Cup campaign, beating them twice on their own patch, once in the pool stages and again in the third place play off.

It was another late one in the Northern suburbs of Paris, with the customary post 9pm kick off ensuring that the temperatures plummeted even further.

Pumas in the wild can run at speeds of fifty miles per hour, but the two legged variety were no match for France’s flying winger Louis Bielle-Biarrey and Gabin Villiere.

Back when I was young we had a definition of outrageous speed that referred to excrement and a shovel the boys from Bordeaux and Toulon encapsulated that definition perfectly, each scoring a try that warmed the cold Parisian night.

France went into an early lead thanks to a Thibaud Flament try in the ninth minute. Thomas Ramos and Tomás Albornoz exchanged a few penalties before the Toulon Tornado, Gabin Villiere’s 33rd minute try. A penalty try followed three minutes later, followed by another Ramos penalty to give France a 30-9 half-time lead.

France we’re home and hosed but a 57th minute try from Thomas Gallo brought the score back to 30-16 and Argentina sucked in some hope, but Louis Bielle-Biarrey flew in for a try in the 58th minute to execute the coup de grâce.

Ignacio Ruiz 70th minute try was a mere consolation for the Pumas, who were inaccurate and disjointed throughout and hampered by two yellow cards.