We are privileged to be watching probably the finest France team of the century, but the rest of the world was given some assurance that the old kinks in their psyche, which we thought they had ironed out, might still be niggling away beneath the lacquer. This was supposed to be a procession. It was not.
No one gave Uruguay a chance. The bookies reckoned they were something like 200-1 to win. Well, the score after 53 minutes read 13-12 to the hosts – and they were lucky to be ahead at all. The South Americans tore into their opponents and in many respects outplayed them, scoring two tries worthy of the most accomplished sides. It was not until the final 10 minutes, with a try by Louis Bielle-Biarrey, that France were able to secure the win with any kind of confidence. This blip in the carnival will quickly be forgotten when France qualify for the quarters, but let the record state they failed here even to register a bonus point.
