Road to the RWC Final - France
France’s path to the World Cup Final at Eden Park in Auckland on Sunday.
Pool A matches:
FRANCE 47 JAPAN 21
September 10, Auckland (North Harbour)
France got their World Cup campaign off to a shaky start against Japan, allowing the Asian champions to pull within four points in the second-half. but they hung on and three late tries from Lionel Nallet, Pascal Pape and Morgan Parra gave them a winning margin they hardly deserved.
FRANCE 46 CANADA 19
September 18, Napier
Parra kicked four conversions and five of his six penalties, including three in nine minutes before half-time that crucially saw France build a substantial lead they never ceded. Wing Vincent Clerc went on to score a hat-trick of tries.
NEW ZEALAND 37 FRANCE 17
September 24, Auckland (Eden Park)
The All Blacks scored five tries to two for a convincing bonus point victory, as they partly atoned for their stunning quarterfinal defeat by the French at the 2007 World Cup. Lievremont, under fire for resting a handful of key players for the game, pinpointed “schoolboy” errors in defence for his side’s defeat.
TONGA 19 FRANCE 14
October 1, Wellington
Tonga pulled off one of the biggest shocks in World Cup history as they harried the French into a catalogue of errors. It was France, however, who progressed as pool runners-up behind New Zealand after bagging a losing bonus point.
Knock-out matches:
FRANCE 19 ENGLAND 12 (Quarterfinal)
October 8, Auckland (Eden Park)
France played with pride and resolves to turn humiliation into to triumph as they downed tournament nemesis England after building up a 16-0 half-time lead. Halfbacks Dimitri Yachvili and Parra controlled play, while Imanol Harinordoquy and Julien Bonnaire led an outstanding French pack.
FRANCE 9 WALES 8 (Semifinal)
October 15, Auckland (Eden Park)
Three Parra penalties saw France just do enough to beat a Welsh side who, despite being reduced to 14 men after 19 minutes when captain Sam Warburton was shown the red card for a dangerous tip tackle on Clerc, scored the only try of the match.
AFP
