Greece may have tasted defeat in their World Cup opener against France as expected, but they put in a battling display that earnt them not one but two historic World Cup tries. It’s been quite the journey for the Greek side. Remember, throughout their qualification process they were playing illegally as the country refused to recognise the federation, but now, they are doing their country proud on the world stage.
It was always going to be tough against France, but the 34-12 scoreline shows a side that is emerging on the world stage. Siteni Taukamo scored their very first try at a major tournament, but they fought to the end and capped off a cracking display with a genuinely superb try. Nick Mougios broke clear and ran away from the French defence to finish the game with a flourish.
France may have won the game, but there were no smiles at the end from them as Greece took home all the plaudits after an absolutely superb display. If this is what they can bring to a World Cup, we can’t wait to see them back in action against Samoa and England.
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The game for the first half, panned out as many expected. Laurent Frayssinous’ side opened the scoring in the opening ten minutes as Jordan Dezaria was too powerful for the Greek defence and crossed from close range for his first international try. After that start, it would be easy for Greece to crumble, but they didn’t.
For the next ten minutes, they took the game to their opponents and caused them problems, before a high tackle gave away a cheap penalty that saw France extend their lead through the boot of Arthur Mourgue.
France then cut through the Greek defence with a fine kick which they failed to deal with, and then Tony Gigot was quickest to react to get the ball down over the line. That marked his ninth international try and after a bright opening half an hour, it became apparent that the underdogs were tiring.
After a late tackle in the middle of the pitch, France were given a fresh set of six and took full advantage as Benjamin Jullien found a gap to score. The Catalans Dragons man has more caps than anyone else in this French side and played a crucial role in securing a winning start to this World Cup campaign.
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The half-time hooter marked the end of a first half that had delivered mostly what we expected ahead of the match. France hadn’t been at their fluid best and Greece had battled well, but looked as if their resilience was waning as the game went on.
If they needed some inspiration at the start of the second period, they got it through Jonathan Mitsias. He landed a huge tackle on Fouad Yaha which sent him to the floor and forced a knock on. The celebrations from the Greece team showed just how inspired they were having landed a big physical blow on the French side.
They failed to capitalise after a knock on from that spell and soon after Arthur Mourgue made it 26-0 as he managed to escape the defenders grip to slide over the line and pop the ball down. It looked like that was that for Greece after a bright start, but then they got their moment.
After a well-worked move, something they had been threatening all year, Taukamo scored Greece's first ever try at a World Cup. There were incredible scenes in Doncaster as the country where this sport was illegal during their qualification process managed to get a try on the biggest stage.
Just them getting here was a major achievement, now they were showing the world what they can do. It was a try, followed by the conversion by Lachlan Ilias that sparked a spell of Greek pressure. They weren’t just here to lie down, they were here to play a real part in this World Cup.
We saw it yesterday with Jamaica as they got on the scoreboard, but the underdogs are really producing at this World Cup. France’s decision to kick a penalty rather than go for the try showed their uncertainty on how the game was developing and even though Jullien crossed late on to extend the lead to 34-6, you can’t help but feel they will be worried as they take on England this weekend. Then came that final Greek moment of magic.
Shaun Wane’s side should be licking their lips ahead of their next two matches, given what we have seen tonight. The fans are beginning to warm up to the tournament after that thumping of Samoa and two sell-out crowds should get to see two big wins.
The big decider in Group A will surely come as France take on Samoa on Sunday 30 October. The winner of that tie looks likely to secure second place behind England, and make it to the quarter-finals.
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