France, Wales into Cup semis
Source: Agencies |
October 9, 2011, Sunday
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Print Edition
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FRANCE showed once again it is at its most dangerous when in apparent disarray by dumping England out of the Rugby World Cup yesterday.
The French, beaten twice in the pool stages, defeated the 2003 world champion 19-12 at Auckland's Eden Park in the second of the weekend's quarterfinals.
They will meet Wales, a 22-10 winner over Ireland at the Wellington Regional Stadium earlier in the day, in this weekend's semifinals.
France was defeated by host New Zealand and then suffered a humiliating loss to Tonga in the first round. Relations between coach Marc Lievremont and the team soured to such an extent that no player turned up for an informal social evening called to mend fences.
Still anyone with even a casual interest in rugby history, and in particular the 24-year saga of the World Cup, would have known that no team can defy the odds quite like the mercurial French.
At the semifinal stages they beat Australia in one of the great matches in the inaugural 1987 World Cup and upset New Zealand after a staggering second-half comeback in 1999. Four years ago they defeated the All Blacks again, this time in the quarterfinals.
Yesterday their best players performed with all the pride and passion so abjectly missing against Tonga. Captain Thierry Dusautoir was magnificent in attack and defense on the side of the scrum and Dimitri Yachvili kicked the goals and orchestrated his team from scrumhalf.
"I don't know whether today we played an extraordinary game or beautiful rugby but we had 22 French players who really wanted to go on in this competition," Dusautoir said.
France's path to the semifinals was eased considerably by a dismal England performance littered with basic errors on a day in which little went right for a side which has also been bedevilled by off-field controversies.
After France had stolen an England lineout winger Vincent Clerc evaded three would-be tacklers and spun in a complete circle before scoring the first of his team's two tries. More indifferent defense allowed fullback Maxime Medard to score as France strode to a daunting 16-0 halftime lead.
Fullback Ben Foden and wing Mark Cueto scored for England in the second half but it was always chasing the game and a drop goal by replacement flyhalf Francois Trinh-Duc effectively sealed its fate.
In Wellington, left wing Shane Williams scored in the second minute against Ireland, which had defeated twice champion Australia in the first round to top their group.
Ireland failed to take advantage of the perennial southerly wind in the first half and trailed 3-10 at halftime.
A converted Keith Earls try early in the second half leveled the scores and the match was now nicely poised.
But scrumhalf Michael Phillips and center Jonathan Davies epitomized the confidence and conviction which Wales has brought to the tournament by scoring excellent individual tries as the Welsh repeated their 1987 Wellington win over their Celtic rivals.
Today's quarterfinals feature Australia against defending champion South Africa in Wellington followed by New Zealand versus Argentina in Auckland with the draw ensuring a final between the southern and northern hemispheres.
The French, beaten twice in the pool stages, defeated the 2003 world champion 19-12 at Auckland's Eden Park in the second of the weekend's quarterfinals.
They will meet Wales, a 22-10 winner over Ireland at the Wellington Regional Stadium earlier in the day, in this weekend's semifinals.
France was defeated by host New Zealand and then suffered a humiliating loss to Tonga in the first round. Relations between coach Marc Lievremont and the team soured to such an extent that no player turned up for an informal social evening called to mend fences.
Still anyone with even a casual interest in rugby history, and in particular the 24-year saga of the World Cup, would have known that no team can defy the odds quite like the mercurial French.
At the semifinal stages they beat Australia in one of the great matches in the inaugural 1987 World Cup and upset New Zealand after a staggering second-half comeback in 1999. Four years ago they defeated the All Blacks again, this time in the quarterfinals.
Yesterday their best players performed with all the pride and passion so abjectly missing against Tonga. Captain Thierry Dusautoir was magnificent in attack and defense on the side of the scrum and Dimitri Yachvili kicked the goals and orchestrated his team from scrumhalf.
"I don't know whether today we played an extraordinary game or beautiful rugby but we had 22 French players who really wanted to go on in this competition," Dusautoir said.
France's path to the semifinals was eased considerably by a dismal England performance littered with basic errors on a day in which little went right for a side which has also been bedevilled by off-field controversies.
After France had stolen an England lineout winger Vincent Clerc evaded three would-be tacklers and spun in a complete circle before scoring the first of his team's two tries. More indifferent defense allowed fullback Maxime Medard to score as France strode to a daunting 16-0 halftime lead.
Fullback Ben Foden and wing Mark Cueto scored for England in the second half but it was always chasing the game and a drop goal by replacement flyhalf Francois Trinh-Duc effectively sealed its fate.
In Wellington, left wing Shane Williams scored in the second minute against Ireland, which had defeated twice champion Australia in the first round to top their group.
Ireland failed to take advantage of the perennial southerly wind in the first half and trailed 3-10 at halftime.
A converted Keith Earls try early in the second half leveled the scores and the match was now nicely poised.
But scrumhalf Michael Phillips and center Jonathan Davies epitomized the confidence and conviction which Wales has brought to the tournament by scoring excellent individual tries as the Welsh repeated their 1987 Wellington win over their Celtic rivals.
Today's quarterfinals feature Australia against defending champion South Africa in Wellington followed by New Zealand versus Argentina in Auckland with the draw ensuring a final between the southern and northern hemispheres.
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