17 October 2011
A wet Eden Park in Auckland hosted the first semi-final between France and Wales on Saturday. Wales played in their first semi since 1987 and had a chance to go to their first ever final. France on the other hand wanted a repeat of the 1987 final between and the All Blacks.
The first 18 minutes clearly belonged to the Welsh team as they did most of the playing. France defended valiantly, but once they got the ball they just kicked it back down to Wales. James Hook opened the scoring with a penalty. Parra equalised with a penalty of his own. And then came the crucial moment of the match. Sam Warburton put in a brilliantly timed tackle on Vincent Clerc. The only problem with the tackle was that he lifted Clerc through the 90 degree angle. What made it look worst was that he dropped Clerc. Alan Rolland had his hands full as the French wanted to go the musketeer route with a "one for all, all for one" full out brawl. After the players settled down Rolland called Warburton over and showed him a red card, ending the Welsh captain's world cup.
The game proceeded but with very little excitement. It looked more like two sumo wrestlers trying to get an advantage than rugby. France defended again and kicked the ball back at Wales. France took their chances at goal and were soon leading the game 9-3.
Gatland made the changes after halftime and brought on Stephen Jones for Hook. This gave the Welsh some better control on the field kicking. Hook just didn't get it right and he did miss an important kick at gaol. Mike Phillips open up the game after breaking the French defence and score the only try of the evening. Jones took the conversion but pushed it wide.
With score at 9-8 the game came a live in the last 15 minutes with Wales throwing everything at France. And the French seemed at a loss as to what to do. With 5 minutes to go Leigh Halfpenny attempted a long range penalty into a slight breeze but it went in just under the crossbar. From here on the Welsh tried to get close enough for the drop goal but France kept them just out of range. Jones was waiting for it. Wales set up 29 phases and the clock went to 81 minutes before an error saw France turning it over and Yachvili booting the ball into the crowd for a France win.
Scorers:
France: Para (3 Pen)
Wales: Hook (pen), Phillips (try)
France will have to up their game if they stand any chance against either Australia or the All Blacks in the final. A performance like today's will see them go down 50-0 with ease. But then again it depends which French team shows up for the final.
Wales will feel hard done by as they were the best team on the field by far. Had they played a full 80 minutes with 15 men I doubt if France would have scored even 9 points. The red card might have been harsh taking Wales' record into account. The last time a player was sent of in a RWC for them was 1987 and in tests it was 1990 (yellow card). But it has been said: "it is not the referee's job to keep players on the field, it is up to the players." It was deemed to be a spear tackle and the rules are clear that it is a red card.
My heart goes out to Wales as I know how it feels to go out like this. South Africa went the same way last week. Only difference is here the referee made the right call. Better luck in 4 years guys. To the French I have some advice: " Run the ball against Aus and the All Blacks and you might have a chance. If you play like today rather stay at home."
