David Skrela's World Cup could be over after the fly-half suffered a shoulder injury in France's win over Japan.
Kirwan full of pride for his Japan side after they come close to upset
France are sweating over the fitness of fly-half David Skrela after he was forced off with a shoulder problem in the 47-21 win over Japan.
It is feared that the No.10 may have suffered a fractured shoulder after being on the wrong end of a heavy collision in the Pool A clash at North Harbour Stadium
The 32-year-old's World Cup campaign could now be over after 11 minutes of action, with the French team awaiting further news on the severity of the injury.
Centre Fabrice Estebanez was also forced off at half time with a back problem during a game that saw Les Bleus pushed hard by the minnows.
"We have a bit of bad news as we have a potentially serious injury with David Skrela and maybe even Estebanez so it wasn't the best evening for us," said France coach Marc Lievremont.
Not happy
The fitness concerns over two starters did little to improve Lievremont's mood after he had watched his team struggle to overcome Japan.
They grabbed three early tries to move into a 25-11 lead at the break, only for a second-half wobble to see the gap cut down to just four points with 20 minutes to play.
Eventually the French pulled clear in the closing stages, though a flurry of late points could not paper over the cracks of a disjointed display.
"I got a victory, which was the most important thing for me, and then I wanted a consistent game but in this regard I wasn't too happy," said Lievremont.
"I wasn't happy even at half-time.
"I wasn't happy at the beginning of the game, we weren't ambitious enough. We didn't seem to be playing with a strong ambition. We had strong scrums ... but we weren't playing together."
Opposite number John Kirwan was far more upbeat, believing Japan's performance against one of the powerhouses of world rugby proved how far the Asian nation has come in recent years.
Pleasing
"It was important for us to play well and show the world that we are a very competent football team, that we could phases together and we could attack and defend for long periods of time," he said.
"We've been working very hard to come to this World Cup and it was really pleasing that we stayed under the radar and tonight's about exploding on to the scene and making sure we play to our level.
"That will help us tonight. We'll take confidence out of that, we'll study the game tonight and we will be disappointed tomorrow because there were times when we could have done a lot more.
"If you think about the two tries we gave France and then some missed opportunities and we look at this game as if we are equals."
