The Canadian rugby team received a painful reality check courtesy of France.
A touring French side, missing most of its big names, schooled the Canadians in a lopsided 47-13 win before some 9,000 fans on a hot afternoon Saturday at York University.
The French scored five tries and converted all nine of their kicks, laying siege to the Canadian goal line in the second half, when they outscored Canada 23-0.
"We took one on the chin today," Canadian coach Ric Suggitt said. "We've got a lot of work to do with our start-up moves. We've got a lot of work to do with our loose play in the rucks and mauls. We got schooled in all those situations. That can't happen if we're going to compete for the next World Cup."
The Canadian chin could take another beating or two this fall, when Canada hits the road to play world champion England and Italy.
England is coming off embarrassing losses to New Zealand and Australia and will be looking for someone to bully. With star players such as Jonny Wilkinson regaining their health, it won't be a good day to go calling at Twickenham.
It was a disappointing performance for a young Canadian team that had worked hard to prepare for the French. They had taken heart from the fact that France needed a second-half rally to beat the 15th-ranked U.S. Eagles 39-31 last week.
Canada, ranked 13th, has beaten the Americans twice in the past two months.
The French, who are the Six Nations defending champions, finished fourth at the World Cup and are ranked fourth in the world.
But the touring side contains only a handful of their big hitters, with most of the front-line players -- including 13 who played at the World Cup -- left at home to recover from a gruelling season.
Their replacements had little trouble getting the job done against Canada and the margin of victory could have been bigger had it not been for French mistakes.
This may not have been the first-string French team, but it was brimming with talent and discipline.
The French got tries from Clément Poitrenaud, Brian Liebenberg, Bernard Goutta, Aurélien Rougerie and Thomas Lievremont. Alexandre Peclier kicked five conversions and three penalties. Julien Peyrelongue added a penalty.
"Full credit to the French side," Canadian co-captain Kevin Tkachuk said. "They played an excellent game of rugby. They displayed a lot of pace and power and hopefully we can learn from how to play against a team that puts you under pressure like that."
The French defence, which had yielded five tries against the United States, was far more solid Saturday. A line of blue defenders stretched across the field and was often on the Canadians before they had a chance to build an attack.
That resulted in turnovers, with the Canadian ball carrier exposed at the tackle or the second-phase Canadian attack becoming disorganized.
Stirling Richmond, with his third try in his third appearance, scored the lone try for 13th-ranked Canada. Jared Barker booted two penalties and a conversion for Canada.
Philip Murphy, a robust back row forward from England's London Irish, had a fine afternoon, showing his commitment to Canada after being ignored for last fall's World Cup. Richmond looked dangerous when he got the ball.
Overall, however, the Canadians looked disorganized on attack and missed too many tackles on defence.
The French didn't look that good, but punished Canada for its mistakes.