France lock Cameron Woki said on Thursday his side’s poor discipline was “unacceptable” during the unconvincing 27-12 win over Uruguay in the Rugby World Cup.
A much-changed Les Bleus outfit conceded 16 penalties against Los Teros in Lille, 11 more than the tally in Friday’s impressive tournament-opening win over New Zealand.
“It’s a huge number,” Racing 92’s Woki said. “It almost unacceptable at international level.
“You could say we were lucky to win the game. It’s a shame. We wanted to show something else.”
Woki was the only member of the pack to start in northern France after having also starred in the 27-13 victory over the All Blacks.
Les Bleus’ scrum found it difficult against Uruguay, having lost four of 14 of their set-pieces.
“We had to respect them but we didn’t manage to put our gameplan in play, be that the scrum or in open play,” Woki said.
“We fell a bit short in the scrum.
“We weren’t patient, we have to put that right and be patient,” he added.
Next up for France is Thursday’s game against Namibia in Marseille before ending their pool stage campaign versus Italy on October 6.
With two wins from two they are in line to reach the quarter-finals despite failing to claim a bonus point against Uruguay, ranked 17th in the world.
“There are a lot of things to look at but we will keep the victory in mind,” Les Bleus fly-half Antoine Hastoy said.
“We have to get back to work, it’s a World Cup, we know how it is.
“We play again in a week, but we have to put things right,” he added.
