By Ben Hart, Sportsbeat

Gaëlle Mignot lamented a lack of fight as France suffered a 46-24 defeat to hosts Canada in their WXV 1 opener.

France trailed by just five points after striking the first blow of the second half but were put to the sword by the Maple Leafs who climbed to second in the world rankings with victory in Vancouver.

Mignot’s side do not have long to patch up their wounds, returning to action on Saturday to face USA at Langley Events Centre.

“We didn't respond to the fight,” said co-coach Mignot.

“We got caught in the middle and the Canadians put us under constant pressure. So right now, at this point, it's complicated to come up with reasons to be satisfied.

“We have to keep moving forward strongly and these are the matches that will allow us to grow. We took a bit of a slap in the face, but we're going to get back on our feet and get back to work very quickly, analyze what's wrong and move forward.”

France have finished third at each of the last three World Cups but have slipped to fourth in the world rankings less than a year out from the next global tournament and Mignot acknowledged that they need to find solutions quickly.

“We don't hide the fact that we have a final objective which is in September 2025 (the World Cup in England),” she said.

“We have to be aware that we will have to quickly accelerate on all things. I think everyone has really become aware of this. We are a resilient team and what is certain is that we will not give up until the end.”

France's tries came from Mélissande Llorens, Marine Ménager, Pauline Bourdon and Nassira Konde but co-coach David Ortiz believes their issues lied largely in their defence.

“We lacked too much precision in too many areas, especially in defence,” he said.

“We were caught in the middle. What will be important now is the collective questioning that we will have to have to be able to quickly erase these errors.”

France’s next opponents, the United States, represent similar opposition in terms of playing style and Saturday's game offers a chance to get back to winning ways ahead of a crunch showdown with New Zealand in a fortnight’s time.

“We have phases in the match where we manage to control certain things better,” added Ortiz.

“We have to be able to maintain much more continuity over 80 minutes, especially at the end of halves, to be able to compete against teams like Canada."