Felipe Contepomi scored the first points for the visitors when he converted a penalty after just nine minutes.

Contepomi raised the score to 6-0 for the Pumas in the 14th minute after slotting an impressive 49-metre penalty.

In the 21st minute Aurelien Rougerie prevented the home side from conceding their first try of the game when he denied Hernan Senillosa with a last-ditch tackle after the Latin American had been the beneficiary of a freak bounce.

But the inevitable try came from Martin Durand in the 25th minute and Contepomi added the extra points as the Pumas took a comfortable 13-0 lead.

That stirred Les Bleus into life and Tony Marsh reduced arrears with a fine solo try although the wind prevented Jean-Baptiste Elissalde from adding the extra points to pull the score back to 13-5.

Contepomi missed a penalty chance in the 33rd minute before adding another six points to his side's score sheet in the 35th and 40th minutes with penalties as the Pumas led 19-5 at the break.

France were awarded a penalty after 46 minutes but Elissalde missed it from 54 metres although seven minutes later he finally landed one from closer range.

Elissalde picked up an injury in the latter effort and was substituted in the 59th minute for Julien Peyrelongue while Frederic Michalak took over as kicker.

Michalak, who was the kicker at the 2003 World Cup, converted his first penalty a minute later and France came back to 19-11.

France pushed forward, almost scoring a try in the 65th minute with their pack, but Michalak failed to add another three points for Les Bleus two minutes later when he missed a 32-metre penalty despite having the wind in his favour.

In the 74th minute he did hit the target as France came back to 19-14.

Les Bleus needed a try to get back on terms and a conversion to go ahead but the Pumas excelled in preventing them from getting near their 22-metre line.

And the visitors got their reward when Lucas Ostiglia scored a try one minute from time for the visitors although Contepomi missed his conversion.

However, Argentina left the pitch with a deserved victory, their fourth in a row against the French although the previous three were all in Argentina.

France: Nicolas Brusque; Aurelien Rougerie, Tony Marsh, Yannick Jauzion, Cedric Heymans; Frederic Michalak, Jean-Baptiste Elissalde; Olivier Magne, Imanol Harinordoquy, Serge Betsen; Jerome Thion, Fabien Pelous; Sylvain Marconnet, William Servat, Olivier Milloud.
Replacements: Sebastien Bruno, Nicolas Mas, Pascal Pape, Julien Bonnaire, Julien Peyrelongue, Clement Poitrenaud, Christophe Dominici.

Argentina : Hernandez; Borges, Aramburu, M. Contepomi, Senillosa; F. Contepomi, Pichot (capt); Ostiglia, Longo, Durand; Albacete, Alvarez; Hasan, Ledesma, Roncero
Replacements: Mendez, Guinazu, Bouza, Schusterman, N. Miranda, J. Miranda, Tiesi.