France v Uruguay LIVE: Rugby World Cup result and reaction as hosts survive huge scare
France 27-12 Uruguay: Los Teros hugely impressed but a much-changed Les Bleus had just enough to claim a scrappy win
France backed up their opening night win over New Zealand with a highly-entertaining 27-12 victory over Uruguay as the inspired Rugby World Cup outsiders made the second-string hosts work desperately hard for their points while scoring two fine tries.
Uruguay stunned the home fans when Nicolas Freitas scooped up a loose ball to score the opening try after six minutes and though Antoine Hastoy and the boot of Melvyn Jaminet edged France clear, they were lucky to lead 13-5 at half-time after a second try for the visitors by Felipe Etcheverry was harshly ruled out for obstruction.
They were not to be denied 13 minutes after the break though as Baltazar Amaya scored a brilliant try that Etcheverry converted to bring Uruguay, playing with remarkable confidence, within a point.
France, struggling with discipline all night, hit back quickly with a try by Peato Mauvaka but were still unable to take command and managed only one more, for Louis Bielle-Biarrey, meaning they missed out on a four-try bonus point and will hope to play better in remaining Pool A fixtures against Namibia and Italy.
Relive all the action from Stade Pierre Mauroy below. Get all the Rugby World Cup odds here
France 13 - 5 Uruguay 23 mins
Uruguay have a scrum, but France awarded the penalty for instability in the Uruguay front row and go for the corner. France massively overpowering Uruguay in the scrum at the moment.
PENALTY! France 13 - 5 Uruguay 15 mins
It’s Jaminet again who extends the French lead from the tee.
TRY! France 10-5 Uruguay 11 mins
Hastoy powers over after a pacy delivery from the scrum from Lucu as France respond. Conversion from Jaminet is good.
TRY! France 3-5 Uruguay 5 mins
And it’s Uruguay who get the first try! It’s Nicolas Freitas who scores past Jaminet after a well-timed kick from Felipe Etcheverry. Etcheverry’s conversion is charged down.
PENALTY France 3-0 Uruguay 3 mins
It’s a great strike from Melvyn Jaminet to put France ahead after they were awarded a penalty due to Sanguinetti collapsing the scrum.
KICK OFF France 0-0 Uruguay
And they’re underway in Lille! There is an early knock on from Sekou Macalou however and we’ll have a scrum barely a minute into the game.
Here are the anthems!
A poignant moment of reflection for the victims of the tragedies in Libya and Morocco before the anthems start.
Speaking of anthems, they sound much improved compared to those that were played during the first weekend!
Ten minutes until kick off!
Not long to go now, France will no doubt have confidence in their chances, but can Uruguay disrupt proceedings? Only time will tell!
The scrum-half battle
Uruguay’s Santiago Arata currently plays for French Top14 side Castres.
Stade Toulousain, the club of France’s first-choice scrum-half Antoine Dupont who has been rested this evening, have been reported to have shown an interest in signing Arata.
Tonight’s match-up between Arata and France’s Lucu is a key battle to watch out for.
An additional four players from the Uruguay team play their club rugby in France: Nicolas Freitas and Andrés Vilaseca (Vannes), Manuel Leindekar (Bayonne) and Agustin Ormaechea (Nice).
Past form
The two countries haven’t faced each other since the 1960s when a France XV team took to the field and have never played a full international fixture against each other until today.
France go into the match as the home side, among the World Cup favourites, and 14 places above Uruguay in the world rankings.
Uruguay however caused an upset at last RWC in 2019 when they beat Fiji, who were nine places above them at the time, 30-27.
France are currently on a four-match winning streak after beating New Zealand on the opening night in Paris while Uruguay have won one out of their last five.
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