Jean Van de Velde admitted he got his ‘backside kicked’ on the opening day of the Vivendi Seve Trophy at Saint Nom-la-Breteche in France.

Paul McGinley’s GB & I team of ‘underdogs’ handed out a four point mauling to the Continentals.

All but the England duo of World No. 2 Lee Westwood and Mark Foster tasted success as the McGinley inspired side raced to their best ever start the seven event history of the competition.

England’s Ross Fisher teamed with Scotland rookie Scott Jamieson to set the tone in handing out a 6 & 4 defeat to Sweden’s Peter Hanson and French hero Raphael Jacquelin .

The England pair of Ian Poulter and Robert Rock accounted for Dane Thomas Bjorn and Sweden’s Alex Noren 5 & 3 while last week’s KLM Open winner, Simon Dyson and Welshman Jamie Donaldson teamed to win their match 2 & 1 against the all-Spanish duo of Miguel Angel Jimenez and Pablo Larrazabal.

McGinley then remarked to British Open champion, Darren Clarke:  “Good on you, you old dog” after Clarke and David Horsey held on to beat Belguim’s Nicolas Colsaerts and Italian Matteo Manassero 1 up.

However Manassero showed his immaturity in hurling his ball into a water hazard when he putt to halve the match stopped about six inches from the hole.

Westwood and Foster went down by a hole to Italy’s Francesco Molinari and Dane Anders Hansen.

And McGinley, who did his 2014 Ryder Cup captaincy chances every good, said:  “There’s 10 points available the first two days and there’s 18 at the weekend. 

“And I keep saying that and I keep going on about it.

“So it’s important to pace ourselves.  We have had a great start, a brilliant start but there’s a long way to go, and a lot of points to be played for yet.”

But then McGinley is so confident he has kept the same five pairings for today’s (FRD) second lot of Fourballs.

However Van de Velde was already licking his wounds and hoping he doesn’t endure a second straight hiding.

“I learned I got my backside kicked pretty hard,” he said.

“There were five games played at 38-under par.  They played 9-under, 6-under, 8-under, 7-under and 8-under.  They delivered.

“As the English say, tomorrow is another day and I just hope it is not Groundhog Day, that’s for sure.”