PARIS (AP):

LOSING THE opening game of the Rugby World Cup to Argentina was bad enough. Then, the French team had to handle the wrath of its critical media.

"Aie, aie, aie!" (Ouch, ouch, ouch!) read the front page of Le Parisien newspaper, with a photo of French flanker Remy Martin squashed up against four Argentina players during France's 17-12 loss, which puts them in danger of first-round elimination.

France failed to produce any of their customary attacking rugby, and made countless errors to let an aggressive Pumas side win for the fifth time in six meetings against Les Tricolores and take command of Group D.

"For the Blues, the party turns into a nightmare," Le Parisien said in its main story, alongside a photo of coach Bernard Laporte, who is known for his penchant for experimenting. This backfired spectacularly on Friday when Cedric Heymans was switched from wing to fullback - replacing specialist Clement Poitrenaud - and looked out of his depth.

It was the flanker Martin's intercepted pass in the first half that led to the game's only try from Argentina fullback Ignacio Corleto, as he ran into the right corner to silence the Stade de France crowd.

"Scenario Catastrophique" (A catastrophic scenario), said French sports daily L'Equipe, with its front page showing a stern-faced Serge Betsen staring glumly into the distance, and number eight Imanol Harinordoquy with his hands on the top of his head as if surrendering.

L'Equipe's rugby supplement called it a "total failure" and spoke in unforgiving terms of the French having "no game, no leadership, no collective intelligence", alongside a photo of Martin being upended by a rugged tackle from Pumas centre and kicker Felipe Contepomi.

"La Claque" (A slap in the face) was Le Figaro's blunt assessment.

However, the defeat was not quite bad enough to totally grab the attention of the Liberation newspaper. "Calamiteuse ouverture des Bleus" (Calamitous start from The Blues) was tucked on the side of Liberation's front page - not deemed important enough to take over from the main headline about property prices in Paris.

France now need to score heavily and beat Ireland, Namibia and Georgia - and hope Ireland beat Argentina - to stand any chance of topping Group D.

If Laporte's team finishes second, it will likely face tournament favourites New Zealand in the quarters. The All Blacks twice crushed France on French soil in 2004 and 2006.