LILLE IS MORE than 500km away from Nantes, but the stress was palpable through the big screen outside a bar just off Place Royale in the city near the Atlantic coast of France.
Around 50,000 people had squeezed into Stade Pierre-Mauroy in Lille expecting to see les Bleus dispatch Uruguay without fuss, but they were disappointed.
‘Muddled’ is how L’Équipe’s front page described the performance and the coverage across seven pages of the French sports newpaper is critical. The lack of control from the French halfbacks was of particular concern, with Maxime Lucu and Antoine Hastoy both given 4/10 in the player ratings.
Meanwhile, second Romain Taofifénua got a 3/10 after escaping a red card for his wince-inducing hit on Urguguauy scrum-half Santiago Arata. The French lads on the next table in Nantes had never heard of the bunker before last night but they were heavily relieved with the decision not to upgrade Taofifénua’s sanction to red.
Midi Olympique’s front page, meanwhile, roared ‘Dishevelled!’ and flagged France’s lack of discipline after a night when they gave up 15 penalties.
Relief was one of the most obvious emotions among the watching crowd in Nantes as they anxiously sipped their drinks and realised this wasn’t going to be the walk in the park they expected. Uruguay’s disallowed try was even met with cheers.
There was begrudging respect for what los Teros offered, but there was evidently frustration at France’s performance too. Having beaten the All Blacks convincingly on opening night to get the good times rolling, this was a misstep from Fabien Galthié’s side.
They should still top Pool A and advance into a quarter-final at Stade de France in Paris. With games against Namibia and Italy ahead, they’re strongly fancied, particularly given that the likes of Jonathan Danty and Cyril Ballie will be back from injury.
But this game came as a note of caution for some of the other World Cup teams. Rotation might be good for keeping spirits in the camp high but it comes with danger. Cohesion is one of the most valuable commodities in top-level rugby these days and we so often see rotated sides struggling to deliver convincing performances. The players are clearly motivated to impress when given their chances, but it’s hard to get rhythm when the team hasn’t played together before.
That was among Andy Farrell’s thoughts when he opted for a near full-strength team for tomorrow’s Pool B clash with Tonga in Nantes. Some of Ireland’s most disjointed performances under Farrell have come when he has used his wider squad. Think of Georgia in 2020, Fiji last year, and the recent warm-up clash with Samoa.
There’s a reason the front-liners are the front-liners. While France came through with a 27-12 win last night, albeit missing out on a bonus point, there’s no doubt that their performance was a hit to their momentum. Expectations will likely be even higher now after such an underwhelming showing.
Uruguay deserve serious respect for their effort, which once again underlined how important it is for rugby to find a way for lower-ranked teams to get more opportunities to play the top sides.
Dangerous wing Nicolas Freitas, who plays for Vannes in the French second division, was among the stars of the show in Lille. His ‘I can’t hear you’ celebration for his first-half try was something of an iconic image and we only imagine how wild fans back home in Uruguay went at that moment.
This really is one of the joys of World Cups in any sport – seeing the underdogs have their time in the limelight. But even while recognising Uruguay’s good display, it’s impossible to ignore the dip in France’s.
Most World Cup winners have a bad game along the way and we should expect France to bounce back next weekend with a big win against Namibia. We should also expect Galthié to get his key men back on the pitch in a more familiar-looking side.
He will rightly be disappointed with how his squad players performed on a night when they got their chance. And even though they managed the opening-night nerves to beat the Kiwis, this was a reminder that hosting a World Cup comes with plenty of pressure.