XV of France – This forgotten bonus which could be expensive for qualification
By not winning an offensive bonus against Uruguay, the Blues put themselves under threat from Italy. They now no longer have the right to make mistakes against the Transalpines and the Namibians.
Sekou Macalou was already celebrating in the Uruguayan goal, Melvyn Jaminet was preparing to convert the fourth French try and the Blues were going to achieve an improved victory, certainly sluggish but so important for the rest of their competition. This was without counting on the keen eye of the video referee, Ben Whitehouse. The latter called Ben O’Keeffe, the field referee, to alert him to a potential foul by the Parisian third row in the ruck preceding his long ride of more than 60 meters. A few seconds later, the sentence fell: test canceled. The Blues finally won 27-12 but forgot the offensive bonus point on the way. A point that could count… If the French XV were to trip over their feet on the last day against Italy (in Lyon, October 6). Let’s explain.
Uruguay, ally of the Blues
The Blues have eight points after two matches played while New Zealand has five points after the same number of matches. Behind, Italy has the same number of points as the All Blacks, but with only one match on the clock.
If Ian Foster’s New Zealanders are full against Uruguay and Italy (improved victory each time), they will have fifteen points at the end of the group stage. For their part, if the teammates of Antoine Dupont and those of Michele Lamaro win their next match with more than four tries scored (against Namibia for the Blues; against Uruguay for the Squadra Azzurra) and the Transalpines lose without the slightest point against New Zealand, which is far from incongruous, the French XV would enter the final day with only three points ahead of the Italians (13 points against 10).
This poses a problem. Because in the event of a defeat, even if improved against the Transalpines, the Blues would finish third and would therefore be eliminated from their World Cup. It should be remembered that in the event of a tie in the ranking, it is the result of the match between the two teams which is taken into account. In this case of a four-point victory for Italy with a bonus for France, the two nations would find themselves tied (14 points each) behind New Zealand.
For the Blues, it’s simple, we have to count on the resistance of Los Teros against the Squadra on Wednesday in Nice so that the latter does not win with the bonus. Otherwise, after beating Namibia, they will play a pressure match in Lyon, on October 6, against Italy. And they will then be obliged to win.
