France quell valiant Uruguay to remain perfect in World Cup

Rugby World Cup hosts France followed up their opening win over New Zealand with a hard-fought 27-12 success over a gritty Uruguay at the Stade Pierre-Mauroy.

Fabien Galthie - who made 12 changes from the opening night - was left red-faced when Nicolas Freitas propelled Uruguay into a shock lead, but Antoine Hastoy responded for Les Bleus before the break.

The South Americans gave a brilliant account of themselves in Lille and notched a second through Baltazar Amaya, but Peato Mauvaka and Louis Bielle-Biarrey's tries proved telling, as France returned to the summit in Pool A.

An early Melvyn Jaminet penalty had a much-changed France side three points to the good with just four minutes gone, but the Stade Pierre-Mauroy crowd were left aghast as Uruguay posted their first try of the tournament three minutes later.

A crisp kick from Felipe Aliaga out to the left was on the money for Freitas, who prodded the ball forward with his feet before evading the attention of Gabin Villiere and diving over.

However, France had displayed admirable mettle to recover from an early try going against them during their opener with New Zealand, and following a well-worked scrum, Hastoy found a gap on the right and registered despite the best efforts of Uruguay fullback Baltazar Amaya.

Jaminet's second penalty on the 13-minute mark would end the scoring for the first half, but there was time for a healthy dose of drama, as Romain Taofifenua was sin-binned after shouldering Santiago Arata's head in the 27th minute, but he escaped a sending-off.

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France then survived another heart-in-mouth moment in the 34th minute, as Felipe Etcheverry dived over the line, but Tomas Inciarte was penalised for an obstruction, and the try was disallowed.

It was the hosts' turn to have a try chalked off five minutes into the second half, though, as a break fell kindly for Bielle-Biarrey to run through, but the ball had bounced off of Anthony Jelonch's shoulder during an aerial challenge.

Uruguay capitalised on that reprieve with a second try in the 53rd minute, as Etcheverry laid off Amaya to finish off a blistering run on the right, but France restored their eight-point lead just two minutes later, with Etcheverry going from hero to zero as his kick hit a yellow shirt and found its way through to substitute Mauvaka.

A scrappy end to the contest suited France to a tee, and 20-year-old Bielle-Biarrey made sure of the result seven minutes from the end, being picked out in acres of space on the right before charging through.

Sekou Macalou thought he had secured the four-try bonus point in the 76th minute, running half the length of the field to score unopposed, but he had kicked the ball through the ruck and saw his effort ruled out as well.

It was far from a vintage display from Galthie's side, but they have overtaken Italy at the top of Pool A on eight points ahead of a clash with Namibia in Marseille next Thursday, prior to which fourth-placed Uruguay meet Italy in Nice on September 20.