France too Strong for Ireland

France cruised past Ireland into the semi finals with the performance of the tournament combining power, pace and finesse, winning 43-21 under the Telstra Dome in Melbourne.

France cruised past Ireland into the semi finals with the performance of the tournament combining power, pace and finesse, winning 43-21 under the Telstra Dome in Melbourne.

The French pack dominated their Irish counterparts, destroying them in the scrum, with the back row of Olivier Magne, Serge Betsen and Imanol Harinodoquy combining well with the incisive French back line to blow Ireland away. Bernard Laporte’s men had won the quarter final by half-time, scoring 27 unanswered points by the break with Magne, Christophe Dominici and Harinodoquy scoring tries.

Ireland staged a spirited comback in the second-half but the deficit was too large. Tries for centres Kevin Maggs and Brian O’Driscoll (2) will serve only as consolation scores as Ireland start the long journey home. France will face the winners of the final quarter-final between England and Wales on Sunday for a place in what would be their third World Cup final.

The French never allowed the Irish to settle with their aggressive defence constantly shutting down the Irish attack at every opportunity and punishing their turnovers with huge territorial gains either with the ball in hand or through Michalak’s kicking. Magne opened the scoring in the third minute after a planned move from a lineout when Harinordoquy gathered a Michalak cross kick, fed centre Tony Marsh who passed to an unmarked Magne.

Michalak converted and added a 21st minute penalty after the French had thrown wave after wave of blue attackers at the Irish defence. Ireland, however, then had a period of dominance, recycling the ball but unable to break through the French defence. The French then scored an opportunist length-of-the-field try when a pass from O’Gara went to ground, was seized by Magne, who linked with Besten before he flicked to Dominici to run unopposed for 45 metres.

France added their third try less than three minutes later when Galthie sniped away from the base of the ruck and passed to Crenca who fed Harinordoquy to dash over in the corner. Michalak then added his third penalty of the half when the Irish backs were caught offside to give the French a daunting 27-0 lead just before the break.

The little fly-half added another penalty just after the break before Magne and Harinordoquy finished off a sweeping move with Magne’s no-look flick and Harinordoquy’s floated pass tantalasingly just over the outstretched hand of the last defender flopping into Crenca’s hand for his try. Maggs then finally got Ireland on the board when he cut back across the defenders at pace from an attacking lineout to score Ireland’s opening try in the 52nd minute.

Michalak added another penalty before O’Driscoll followed up a short grubber kick from Humphreys to score their second try 13 minutes later. Michalak then added his fifth penalty to give him a tally of 23 points and take him over 100 for the tournament.

O’Driscoll scored a late consolation try for the Irish, who gathered in a large circle in the centre of the field after the whistle before farewelling their many supporters.

Ireland: Tries: Maggs, O’Driscoll 2. Cons: Humphreys 3. Team: Dempsey, S. Horgan, O’Driscoll, Maggs, Kelly, O’Gara, Stringer, Corrigan, Wood, Hayes, O’Kelly, O’Connell, S. Easterby, Gleeson, Costello. Replacements: Humphreys for O’Gara (49), G. Easterby for Stringer (73), Horan for Corrigan (52), Miller for Costello (66).

France: Tries: Magne, Dominici, Harinordoqui, Crenca. Cons: Michalak 4. Pens: Michalak 5. Team: Brusque, Rougerie, Marsh, Jauzion, Dominici, Michalak, Galthie, Crenca, Ibanez, Marconnet, Pelous, Thion, Betsen, Magne, Harinordoqui, Brouzet. Replacements: Liebenberg for Jauzion (52), Milloud for Crenca (73), Bru for Thion (65), Brouzet for Magne (65), Tabacco for Harinordoqui (75), Elhorga for Brouzet (78).