Fabien Galthié’s much-changed France side struggled to put Los Teros away in Lille.
Murray Kinsella Reports from Nantes 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.
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.
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.
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.
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