PARIS - After an impressive tournament-opening win over New Zealand last week many thought Fabien Galthie's France would have no problems against Uruguay in their second Rugby World Cup fixture.
Instead the 27-12 victory for the hosts in Lille on Thursday left the head coach facing questions.
The former scrum-half had made wholesale to his starting lineup from the victory against the All Blacks.
Yet the new combinations failed to click and the former France skipper is likely to return to a more settled side against Namibia next Thursday.
"We've got something to work on with a squad preparing for the third match in Marseille," Galthie said.
"A World Cup is a long-term adventure, each match is a test.
"A match like Uruguay strengthens the team, making them better and stronger for the match in Marseille in a week," he added.
Galthie has said in the past he wants the penalty count to be no more than 12 per match and has brought in ex-Test referee Jerome Garces as part of his coaching staff to try to educate the players.
It didn't work against the combative Uruguayans though, as France gave away 15 penalties, four more than they did in the tournament opener against the All Blacks.
"It's part of what we'll work on. They made us concede penalties," centre Arthur Vincent said.
"We have to see what went wrong. It's part of the frustrations," he added.