France overcome Uruguay scare before Louis Bielle-Biarrey seals victory

The South Americans tore into their hosts and in many respects outplayed them, scoring two tries worthy of the most accomplished sides.

POINT OF IMPACT: France’s Romain Taofifenua collides with Uruguay’s Santiago Arata ,which resulted in a yellow card, during the World Cup Pool A clash at Stade Pierre Mauroy, Lille. Picture: Dave Winter

France 27 Uruguay 12

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.