France head coach Fabien Galthie said he is happy with the result after his side had to dig deep to clinch a 27-12 victory over Uruguay in their Rugby World Cup clash in Lille on Thursday.
Galthie made 12 changes to his starting line-up after they beat the All Blacks in the World Cup’s opening match and the players who came into the run-on side failed to maintain Les Bleus’ high standards as they did not manage to secure a bonus point in the win over Uruguay.
Happy with the win
Despite that, Galthie was satisfied with his team’s victory although he understood that his players were frustrated with their performance.
“Our plan is in motion, it’s a long journey and every game is a test that is important for our life as a squad,” he said.
“You might say it’s disappointing but I’m happy with the victory.
“The players might be frustrated for various reasons but sometimes you can be surprised by your opponent when you don’t know how they have prepared.
“We did not play this game to make a statement.”
Meanwhile, France lock Cameron Woki expressed his frustrations with Les Bleus’ performance against Los Teros in which they conceded a whopping 15 penalties during the match.
“15 penalties is huge. It’s unacceptable at international level, we’re lucky to win after being penalised so many times,” he said.
France’s disciplinary issues also saw them playing with 14 men for 10 minutes during the first half after Woki’s second-row partner Romain Taofifenua was yellow carded for a high tackle on Uruguay’s scrum-half Santiago Arata.
It was a nervy time for Les Bleus as the tackle was reviewed by the Foul Play Review Bunker.
The Bunker eventually deemed that there was enough mitigation with Arata’s drop in height from the initial tackle from France flanker Sekou Macalou.
Returned to action
This meant that Taofifenua was able to return to the field after 10 minutes.
“We had worked hard [on discipline], we wanted to do something good and we just showed we were an ill-disciplined team,” said Woki.
“It’s very frustrating.
“We struggled in the scrums, we knew we were better but then we were not patient – we have to be patient.”
READ MORE: France v Uruguay: Five takeaways from Rugby World Cup clash as Los Teros win plenty of fans
The article ‘The players might be frustrated but I’m happy’ – Fabien Galthie after France’s win over Uruguay appeared first on Planetrugby.com.
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