France's evening was summed up perfectly, albeit jovially, by defence coach Shaun Edwards following a crushing 26-25 defeat to England on Saturday.
"We got the oopsies, didn't we? Every time we got near the tryline we seemed to just drop the ball," Edwards said.
"I've never seen that happen before. The French lads are normally magnificent handlers of a rugby ball."
"Ooopsies" is right, even if it makes light of the fact France bombed several try scoring opportunities and made multiple unforced errors throughout Le Crunch. The stars that were expected to shine so brightly after their performance in Paris against Wales last week faded with every drop of the ball in London.
France finished with 27 handling errors on Saturday to England's 12 and conceded 19 turnovers. Both sides looked too eager to attack, forcing the ball either with an ambitious kick or one pass too many.
Yes, even Antoine Dupont made mistakes.
In the end, it cost Les Bleus victory and saw their Grand Slam hopes crumble at just the second hurdle. This French "golden generation" will be judged in history by how many titles they win. At the moment, their tally stands at just one, the Grand Slam in 2022, and a missed opportunity at a home Rugby World Cup.
The conditions were perhaps a leveller, with a drizzle pouring over Twickenham all morning and afternoon. The best sides, though, adapt and remain composed. France wrestled with the greasy ball all evening and it was ultimately their downfall.
However, coach Fabien Galthié remained optimistic and resisted any urge to vent at his side's mistakes. He was asked by French media if his side were "arrogant" at Twickenham, something he dismissed.
"No, not at all. It's not their style. They're not at all an arrogant team," Galthié said through a translator. "Somehow for various reasons, we didn't score enough given the opportunities we benefited from throughout the game."
He was equally dismissive of the fact that another Grand Slam has slipped through their fingers.
"We are an ambitious team; I think we demonstrated this again tonight. What is important is the next steps" he said. "Of course we didn't win but shouldn't be focused on the defeat tonight. But focus maybe on the highlights what we did well tonight instead."
There's no doubt though that this result will sting. Hard.
At least twice they cost themselves tries which, given England's recent track record, could have buried them and ensured their crusade to go unbeaten this year lived on. They came up against an England team who of course, fought to the bitter end, but were there for the taking.
The result threw the competition wide open, but after the high of a 43-0 win over Wales, it serves as a reminder of how brutal the Six Nations can be and how quickly you can come crashing back down to earth.
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