Thrilling to Start Week Two

What a thrilling match to start the second week of the tournament

Was it technical? Yes Were there a lot of free kicks and penalties? Yes Did it constantly flow from end to end? No Did the drama get ratcheted up? Most certainly yes Was it compelling viewing? For me, absolutely

This was akin to watching Sean Strickland defeat Israel Adesanya in the UFC last weekend

No one in their right mind had Uruguay to win this match, myself included, and most definitely France

It was an exercise to see how deep the French squad really is and how robust their game plan with lesser performers

Then Uruguay rocked up and showed that both were lacking

This officiating team was as bad as Carley & Co and yet there’s barely a mention of how Uruguay were robbed of an all time RWC victory

The scrums were a lottery for both sides

BOK and his team allowed France to close the gap at the lineout every single time, negating the Uruguay threat and denying them clean, quick ball from which to attack

And the YC

Filth

Led with the elbow/shoulder making direct contact to the head

RC every day, but Whitehouse especially bottled it

Uruguay were very competitive and save for a moment of madness clearing their lines could have had a bonus point loss

I’m absolutely convinced that a 15-man Uruguay would have beaten a 14-man France

Uruguay had plenty of opportunities to put pressure on France - they won enough ball and penalties in the right areas of the field - but unfortunately weren’t accurate enough make use of their possession and territory

But against a 14-man France those opportunities would have eventually told

Well done Uruguay