| France: (13) 27 |
| Tries: Hastoy, Mauvaka, Bielle-Biarrey Pen: Jaminet 2 Con: Jaminet 3 |
| Uruguay: (5) 12 |
| Tries: Freitas, Amaya Con: Etcheverry |
A much-changed France side overcame a spirited Uruguay outfit in Lille to maintain their winning start at their home World Cup.
The hosts, who made 12 changes to the side who beat New Zealand, took the lead with a Melvyn Jaminet penalty.
Uruguay hit back through a Nicolas Freitas try before Antoine Hastoy crossed for France.
Baltazar Amaya threatened a Uruguay comeback but Peato Mauvaka and Louis Bielle-Biarrey sealed the win.
A second victory in as many games moved France a step closer to the quarter-finals as Uruguay began their campaign with their best result against a tier one nation at the World Cup.
Les Blues resume their tour of the country against Namibia in Marseille in their next Pool A match on 21 September, while the South Americans face Italy in Nice the night before.
Uruguay errors let France off the hook
Uruguay did not play in the opening round of fixtures and they were huge underdogs against the side who are tipped by many to win the tournament for the first time.
Jaminet nudged France into an early lead from the tee but it was Uruguay who got the game’s first try.
Freitas was the beneficiary when Felipe Etcheverry’s cross-field kicked was palmed on to his boot by Jaminet before the wing claimed the loose ball and dotted down.
France hit back through Hastoy, who darted through a gap in the Uruguay defence to score – prompting smiles from the hosts as they celebrated, and an expectation that it would be the first of many tries.
But France were reduced to 14 players momentarily when Romain Taofifenua was penalised for a no-arms tackle direct to the head of Santiago Arata.
There was a feeling around the Stade Pierre-Mauroy he would not return to the field and the bunker would upgrade his yellow card to a red, but he would later rejoin the action because of the mitigation of Sekou Macalou’s involvement in the tackle.
With Taofifenua off the field, Uruguay came closest to scoring the next try as Etcheverry crossed the whitewash from a wrap-around backs move, only for it to be ruled out for a block in the build-up by Tomas Inciarte.
Their persistence would pay dividends after the break, however.
Amaya pierced through the French defence with a sniping run from deep to move Uruguay to within a point, following Etcheverry’s conversion, before their hard work was undone moments later.
Etcheverry’s attempted clearance hit his own player, and as the ball looped up, Mauvaka scooped it up and carried it over the line.
Bielle-Biarrey, 20, became the youngest player to represent France at the World Cup and his debut sparked into life as he ran in a simple try from a Hastoy pass.
Macalou thought he had then wrapped up the bonus point but the try was chalked off as the flanker appeared to kick the ball through the ruck.
Line-ups
France: Jaminet; Bielle-Biarrey, Vincent, Moefana, Villiere; Hastoy, Lucu; Gros, Bourgarit, Aldegheri, Woki, Taofifenua, Boudehent, Macalou, Jelonch (capt).
Replacements: Mauvaka, Wardi, Falatea, Chalureau, Flament, Cros, Couilloud, Ramos.
Uruguay: Amaya; Basso, Inciarte, Vilaseca (capt), Freitas; Etcheverry, Arata; Sanguinetti, Pujadas, Peculo, Aliaga, Leindekar, Ardao, Civetta, Diana.
Replacements: Gattas, Benitez, Piussi, Dotti, Bianchi, Deus, Ormaechea, Berchesi.
Referee: Ben O’Keeffe (New Zealand)
