| THE RUGBY WORLD CUP 2011 FINAL | ||
| Sun 23 Oct 09:00 | FRANCE v NEW ZEALAND | Eden Park, Auckland |
NEW ZEALAND will face a familiar foe in the form of France when they aim to win their first World Cup in 24 years on Sunday at Eden Park in Auckland.
The All Blacks beat the French 29-9 in the inaugural final back in 1987. That was also at Eden Park but, since then, France have done more than any other team to extend New Zealand's World Cup drought.
In 1999, France won a brilliant semi final 43-31 at Twickenham and, four years ago, the All Blacks felt aggrieved when the French scored from a forward pass on the way to a 20-18 quarter final victory.
Graham Henry's team have already avenged that controversial defeat with a classy 37-17 defeat of France in the Pool stages.
But the New Zealanders know it will all count for nought unless they walk away with the William Webb Ellis trophy this time.
Unsurprisingly, given the nature of the two sides' progress to the Final, the All Blacks are huge favourites, as short as 1/9 with most bookmakers.
By contrast, France, who also lost a Pool match to Tonga before beating England in the last eight and Wales in the semis, are generally rated a 6/1 shot - long odds in a two-horse race.
Of course, it could be argued with some justification that France should not be there at all after the Welsh controversially lost their first World Cup semi final since 1987.
This has been a tournament in which the Dragon has roared, one in which only New Zealand and Australia have scored more tries.
Wales started their semi final with positive intent again but only had James Hook's penalty to show for their territory and possession when the match was inexorably turned upon its head in just the 18th minute.
The vital moment came when Welsh skipper Sam Warbuton made it a strong tackle without any malicious intent on Vincent Clerc.
The French winger's feet left the ground and the spear challenge looked set to be met with a yellow card and 10 minutes in the sin-bin.
But, instead, Irish referee Alain Rolland flashed a red at the devastated Warburton, and Wales were forced to play their biggest match for 24 years with 14 men.
At first, it looked as if Rolland's call would completely spoil the contest as the French launched a flurry of attacks, winning a further penalty just before half-time to lead 6-3.
France scored first in the second period, another accurate Morgan Parra penalty making it 9-3 and many began to fear the worst for Wales.
The 14 men in red thought differently, though, and Mike Phillips followed up his effort against Ireland last week with another brilliant try.
Phillips picked the ball up at the base of the ruck, then sold a dummy to the French defence before handing off Pascal Pape to dash over the line.
Suddenly, it was game on at 9-8 but, vitally, Stephen Jones could only shave the post with the conversion. Nevertheless, the try restored Wales' belief and France were forced to defend wave after wave of attack.
Indeed, this was nothing short of a heroic effort for the short-staffed Welsh who eschewed the chance of a drop goal in favour of pushing for the line again before knocking on.
That was perhaps a little naive but the Welsh would be rewarded with one final chance of going through to their first-ever World Cup Final winning a penalty just inside the French half with five minutes left.
Leigh Halfpenny, who had kicked such a distance before, stood over and addressed the ball, swiping the kick high into the Auckland sky and between the posts. Agonisingly, it fell a couple of feet short.
One final attack summed up the spirit in the Welsh ranks as they recycled the ball through 26 phases in search of another penalty or try.
It never came and French resistance had worked and got them through to a barely-deserved third World Cup Final, having lost the previous two.
France may have defended well in the last half an hour of their match against the Welsh but that will hold no fears for a New Zealand side who have just demolished a stout Australia team.
The Wallabies' quarter final victory over South Africa was the stuff of Australian sporting legend as they won 11-9 despite the Springboks enjoying more of the ball and an incredible 75% of the territory.
Against the All Blacks, Australia could not repeat the feat. Indeed, it all started to go wrong right from the kick off which New Zealand-born Quade Cooper sent straight out of play.
That gave New Zealand the chance to effect some early pressure and, after four minutes, the hosts went ahead with a well-worked try.
The danger came as the impressive Israel Dagg made a break and, just as he looked to be heading into touch, he sent a brilliant one-handed pass back to Ma'a Nonu to go over in the corner.
Piri Weepu, who impressed in the quarter final against Argentina, missed the conversion but he was soon on the scoresheet with a straight-forward penalty to make it 8-0 after Aaron Cruden had broken into the Wallaby 22.
Australia were in danger of going under fast but responded with pressure of their own which ended when James O'Connor slotted over a simple kick.
Even that early on, though, it needed to be so much more as the momentum of the game was set.
Indeed, the All Blacks Zealand had restored their eight-point advantage again by half-time, leading 14-6 as Cruden and Cooper swapped drop goals before Weepu fired over a long-range pen.
Another Weepu penalty straight after the interval made it 17-6 but the second period was a masterclass in defending a lead from New Zealand.
The All Blacks won turnover after turnover as the Wallabies tried, in complete vain, to get a foothold back in the game.
With just eight minutes left, New Zealand forced yet another turnover at the scrum and Weepu added three points to his tally.
That made it 20-6 and, though there had only been six points in the second half, this had been an engrossing defensive performance from the ABs.
It is hard now to see a much less talented French team succeeding where Australia failed.
For, even shorn of top international points scorer Dan Carter, surely it is the All Blacks' destiny to win the World Cup this time. On Sunday in Auckland, we will find out for sure.
SEMI FINAL RESULTS
Date | Venue | Tries | |
| Sat 15 Oct | WALES 8-9 FRANCE | Eden Park, Auckland | 1-0 |
| Sun 16 Oct | AUSTRALIA 6-20 NEW ZEALAND | Eden Park, Auckland | 0-1 |
QUARTER FINAL RESULTS
Date | Venue | Tries | |
| Sat 8 Oct | IRELAND 10-22 WALES | Wellington | 1-3 |
| Sat 8 Oct | ENGLAND 12-19 FRANCE | Eden Park, Auckland | 2-2 |
| Sun 9 Oct | SOUTH AFRICA 9-11 AUSTRALIA | Wellington | 0-1 |
| Sun 9 Oct | NEW ZEALAND 33-10 ARGENTINA | Eden Park, Auckland | 2-1 |
POOL STAGE RESULTS
The results and tables from all 40 Pool matches can be found here.
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