It was a night when little went right for France, all the way down to the detail of Thierry Henry being denied a late penalty for handball. If the irony of that flashpoint was not lost on any of the Irish supporters in attendance and there was the urge to criticise Raymond Domenech’s team for a lacklustre performance, the lessons of recent history leapt to themanager’s defence. France cannot be written off after a sluggish start. At the last World Cup they struggled sorely throughout the group stage yet, when a switch was flicked in the last 16, they advanced majestically to the final. Domenech is a keen follower of omens and he had to hope that this dull showing could presage something more exciting. “I want to keep you on your toes,” he said with a smile. France did begin well against a Uruguay team of limited ambition, who finished with 10 men following the dismissal of the substitute Nicolás Lodeiro for a second bookable offence, an ugly lunge at Bacary Sagna. But the speed at which France ran out of ideas was startling. All their creative talents failed to spark and the knives will be out for Nicolas…