England Defeats France 14-9 to Reach Rugby Cup Final

MrG

England Defeats France 14-9 to Reach Rugby Cup Final

By Sam Sheringham

Oct. 13 (Bloomberg) -- Jonny Wilkinson kicked a late penalty and a drop goal as England beat France 14-9 to advance to the final of rugby's World Cup, leaving the team within one victory of becoming the first to successfully defend the title.

Wilkinson, whose four earlier misses looked set to cost England, got his efforts between the posts in the last five minutes to overturn a one-point deficit in the semifinal at the Stade de France in Paris. England winger Josh Lewsey had scored the only try in the first two minutes before France rallied with three Lionel Beauxis penalties.

Wilkinson, whose last-minute drop goal clinched the Webb Ellis Cup four years ago in Sydney, has given his team the chance to join Australia as the competition's only two-time champions.

``It's just fantastic,'' England captain Phil Vickery said in a televised interview. ``It's a huge effort from everybody, including the fans. It's really special.''

Coach Brian Ashton's team, a 33-1 outsider at the start of the tournament, has turned its campaign around since suffering the ignominy of a 36-0 drubbing by South Africa in the pool phase last month. The Springboks, the 1995 champion, and Argentina meet at the same stadium tomorrow for the other place in the Oct. 20 final.

England took the lead after less than two minutes in a contest dubbed ``Le Crunch'' by newspapers on both sides of the English Channel.

Opening Try

Scrum-half Andy Gomarsall sent a kick bouncing along the left wing. Lewsey got to the ball first and barged over France full-back Damien Traille as he crashed over the line. Wilkinson missed the conversion attempt from the touchline.

An infringement by Nick Easter handed France a penalty in front of the posts on seven minutes, which Beauxis slotted to make it 5-3. The France fly-half made it 6-5 with a penalty from more than 45 meters after England was penalized at a scrum.

France was forced into a change after 24 minutes when Fabien Pelous limped off to be replaced by Sebastien Chabal. Moments later, Wilkinson narrowly missed a drop goal before failing with a penalty attempt from inside his own half.

In the second-half, Beauxis and Wilkinson exchanged penalties before replacement fly-half Frederic Michalak's drop goal attempt went wide of the post. Wilkinson tried his luck from England's next attack, only for his drop to rattle back off a post.

Jason Robinson, who led the team out on his 50th international appearance, then raced through the French line only to be held up before he could release a teammate.

Short of the Line

France almost got its first try in the 68th minute when a cross kick from Yannick Jauzion sent Vincent Clerc away down the left. He passed to Chabal and it took four Englishmen to haul the France forward to the ground just short of the line.

After 74 minutes, England forced its way into the French half and won a penalty for a high tackle on Robinson. Wilkinson gave his team an 11-9 lead from straight in front of the posts.

Two minutes from time, England's forwards teed up Wilkinson again, and his kick sailed over to increase the lead to 14-9.

To contact the reporters on this story: Sam Sheringham at the Stade de France in Paris at ssheringham@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: October 13, 2007 17:39 EDT

Bosox1976

I couldn't believe France took down the All-Blacks. England must be a strong side. Quite a tourney this year.

Bosox1976

Cheers to the Springboks on their victory over England. England played them much tougher the second time around.

MrG

I think it would have been a much different match if the England try by Cueto would not have been disallowed. It would have made the match 9-8, a slim lead in the Springboks favor 2 minutes into the 2nd half. It was a very close call, and looked good from all of the televison replay's. It was a very difficult call by the television match official. Nonetheless, it was a fantastic run for the Cup defenders, and a much better showing indeed than the last South Africa v England match.