KEY POINTS:
France 87
Namibia 10
TOULOUSE - France still have everything to prove despite their record win over Namibia, says coach Bernard Laporte.
"We had a few scars to heal and a feeling of despair to get rid of - we did that," Laporte said after the hosts gained some consolation nine days after their upset loss to Argentina.
"We showed our true face tonight and I'm proud of my players."
France, who had looked tense and clumsy against Argentina, scored 13 tries in Toulouse yesterday to better their previous highest overall win, a 77-10 victory over Fiji in 2001, as well as their previous largest World Cup victory, a 70-12 thrashing of Zimbabwe in 1987.
"We recaptured our joy to play this game, the pleasure that you need to play rugby," Laporte said.
"However, the fact that they had a player sent off helped and, even if we respect them as opponents, it was only Namibia."
Laporte knows his team, who will face a real test in their next game against Ireland on Saturday (NZ time) in Paris, are still in danger of an early exit or of finishing second in their group and facing a likely quarter-final against New Zealand.
"The World Cup has now really started for us but the hardest bit lies ahead," he said.
Halfback Jean-Baptiste Elissalde, who scored a try and kicked 22 points, also pointed out that beating a largely amateur side was not that relevant.
"Let's not draw too many conclusions from this game."
Namibia played for 60 minutes with 14 men after No 8 Jacques Nieuwenhuis was sent off for a dangerous tackle.
"We tried our best but it's impossible for a team like ours to compete with top-level sides with just 14 guys," Namibia coach Hakkies Husselman said.
"It was an unfair call," he said of the red card.
"It was a little bit high but I've seen worse tackles in this World Cup with no red card."
Prop Kees Lensing, Namibia's captain, said he was impressed by France and predicted Ireland would struggle against them.
"France are a much better team," said Lensing, whose team gave Ireland a tough time before losing 32-17.
- Reuters
