The consistency of the referees at the World Cup was again called into question on Thursday as hosts France edged past Uruguay 27-12 to avoid a major upset in Lille.
Home lock Romain Taofifenua escaped in the sin bin for a head contact tackle with just 10 minutes left, when he could easily have been sent off.
The Taofifenua incident followed similar head-to-head clashes involving England’s Tom Curry and South Africa’s Jesse Kriel, with all three ending with different sanctions.
Les Bleus head coach Fabien Galthie rested his first-choice stars who impressed in the opening win over New Zealand.
But his second series struggled against a brave Uruguayan side who failed to get the green.
Romain Taofifenua seemed to be able to fortunately escape a red card for his tackle on Santiago Arata
Minnows Uruguay were full of fire and confidence against a much-changed French team
France has now won both opening matches and looks set to finish at the top of Group A, with confrontations with Italy and Namibia on the horizon.
But the lack of a home bonus point was a big surprise and the truth is that it could have been even worse for France if referee Ben O’Keeffe and his television match official Ben Whitehouse had decided to show Taofifenua red.
France made 12 changes from the team that defeated the All Blacks with Melvyn Jaminet kicking an early penalty. But they were never in control and only led 13-5 at halftime.
France were left shocked when Uruguay winger Nicolas Freitas took a kick to score.
Nicolas Freitas was quick to score the underdogs’ first try in just over five minutes
Felipe Etcheverry’s first-half effort was later disallowed but put the hosts under pressure
Antoine Hastoy restored normal procedure to the first of France. But then Lock Taofifenua hit diminutive Uruguayan scrum-half Santiago Arata in the head and was shown a yellow card, with the decision sent to the bunker for further review.
Fortunately for France, Taofifenua’s map remained yellow and not red.
And with the hosts temporarily down to 14, they had a little more luck again when Felipe Etcheverry dived for Uruguay only to see his effort disallowed for blocking.
Jaminet’s missed penalty and Gabin Villiere’s disallowed attempt caused French nerves at the beginning of the second half.
And in another nice move by the South American backs, fullback Baltazar Amaya scored in the corner. The converted attempt reduced France’s lead to one point.
The momentum seemed to swing in the visitors’ direction after Baltazar Amaya’s try in the second half
But a nervy kick from Etcheverry provided an opportunity for Peato Mauvaka’s try
Peato Mauvaka’s try extended the home advantage and Galthie was forced to bring in his big guns, including the substitute hooker, and lock down Thibaud Flament to avoid an embarrassing defeat.
Uruguay’s ‘never-say-die’ approach and great rugby skills will have won them many admirers. They were fantastic for longer periods and will definitely feel like they’ve been done hard.
It could and should have been very different.
France’s Louis Bielle-Biarrey’s converted try was brutal for the Uruguayans and Sekou Macalou was denied a crucial fourth try late on.
Fabien Galthie’s France will have a lot to think about but remain undefeated in their home tournament
Uruguay may not have achieved the result, but they did break records with their best ever result against Tier 1 opposition