French focused on Ireland game

France centre David Marty has warned his side there can be no more slip-ups after the hosts nudged their World Cup back on track with an 87-10 triumph over Namibia.

France now face Ireland in Paris on Friday knowing another defeat will end their ambitions of qualifying for the quarter-finals.

Marty said: ‘We did what we had to do in terms of involvement and will power, even if some of our finishing was sloppy.

‘It has given us a new boost in the competition. But the big match for us is the one next Friday against Ireland.

‘We messed things up once - we must make sure it does not happen again.’

Skipper Jean-Baptiste Elissalde booted 11 conversions to further boost France's points difference, which could prove crucial come Pool D's final reckoning.

Toulouse half-back Elissalde said: ‘The Argentina match really affected us as it raised doubts over our ability.

‘We achieved many things this week, trained very well and yesterday's session affected us deeply.

‘We started positively. We were distracted at times and did make errors along the way.

‘We can't draw too many conclusions from this match because the opposition were mainly amateurs.’

The challenge facing Namibia was made all the harder when Jacques Nieuwenhuis was sent off in the 19th minute for a clothesline tackle on Chabal.

Chabal required treatment and referee Alain Rolland had no hesitation in showing a straight red card.

Namibia coach Hakkies Husselman voiced his surprise that France failed to break the 100-point mark after Nieuwenhuis had been given his marching orders.

‘We played with 14 guys for most of the match which was very hard,’ he said.

‘I don't think any other side would have coped against a top team with 14 men like we did.

‘The score should have been 120-0 because at our level we should not be able to compete against top sides when we have 14 men.’