France cruised past Namibia with a dominating display of attacking prowess, ensuring a thumping 96-0 win. Namibia seemed to have no answers against the consistent attacking threat posed by France, as 14 tries were converted successfully.
The dominant display resulted in Les Blues marching on towards the coming round with a bonus-point success in their bags as 54 points were scored in the opening half, followed by 42 in the second half in a canter.
Fabien Galthie’s squad showed no signs of stopping, Showing no mercy on less confident opposition as the match went on. Charles Ollivon and Danty scored twice each. Antoine Dupont, Baptiste Couilloud, Melvyn Jaminet, Damian Penaud, Louis Bielle-Biarrey, and Thibaud Flament sealed the win with their names on the scoresheet as France recorded their biggest-ever win in a World Cup.
Unfortunately, the win witnessed a dent in the celebrations as star player Antoine Dupont was on the receiving end of a dangerous high shot, causing a forced substitution and a shadow of doubt over the player’s availability.
France Ooze Class as Namibia Struggles to Cope
Namibia seemed to have no answer to the attacking display that France put on the table. France seemed in disagreement with slowing down their play at all, bamboozling Namibia with every attack. Namibia faced eight tries even before the end of the first half.
It all began with Penaud ensuring France a quick 5-0 lead in just the sixth minute after Dupont put it on a plate for him with a skillful cross-kick.
Just three minutes later, Danty extended the lead from the left by a chip over the top after a sweet inside ball by Bielle-Biarrey, increasing the scoreline to a 12-point lead.
As the half-hour mark approached, Penaud secured a brace, with Ollivon finishing off a beautiful team move. Danty converted his second try as well.
Just as Namibia thought the nightmare was over, the reality was far from it as France refused to let the ignition die out, with Thomas Ramos successfully bagging three additional chances.
Number 8 Anthony Jelonch assisted lock Flemont by putting him clean through in open space from around 20 yards out. Dupont extended the score with help from Penaud as France seemed to have unlocked their talent in extremity, followed by Bielle-Barrey’s and Dupont’s efforts made it 54-0.
Namibia’s night would get worse after the interval when they had an intercept try from Divan Rossouw chalked off before Johan Deysel was red-carded after review, with his head-on-head contact with Dupont seeing Couilloud come on and grab his chance with both hands, wasting no time at all in getting on the try sheet.
Namibia seemed to have no luck on their side after the break, as Divan Rossouw’s commendable intercept try was disallowed before Johan Deysel was sent off after review for a dangerous head collision with Dupont. Couilloud came on and wasted no time to get his name on the try sheet soon after. To make matters worse for Namibia, France was awarded a late penalty in the dying moments of the match.
The final whistle saw people rejoicing over such a dominant display by France. However, some anxious faces could be found in the crowd, worrying about the extent of Dupont’s injury.
