Semi Final - Wales vs France

Discuss...

Wales

liquorice

Waaaales. Make Parra cry, he's way too smug.

Wales will probably be favourites. not sure we like that too much

I was going to write an article but then saw this thread.

So the scene is set for an almighty clash between the perennial under achievers Wales and the ever inconsistent French. Wales will be contesting only their second Semi final since 1987 where they were rather easily dispatched by New Zealand the eventual winners. France will be contesting their 4th Semi Final and would be hoping to reach their third final in 7 attempts.

Interestingly France and Wales have never met in a Rugby world Cup, so both teams will be going into this match with a clean slate.

On closer scrutiny though it appears that France should have some psychological advantage going into this match, but then the same was assumed this morning when Wales were facing Ireland who had the superior record for the past decade.

Here are the recent results between these two teams.

In the last decade France have won 9 of their last 12 encounters.

Since the last World cup:

France lost to Wales at the Millenium Stadium in 2008. Wales 29 – France 12.
France beat Wales at Stade de France in 2009. France 21 – Wales 16.
France beat Wales at the Millenium Stadium in 2010. France 26- Wales 20.
France beat Wales at Stade de France in 2011. France 28 – Wales 9.

Wales to day brought 80 minutes of intensity against Ireland and never sat back, they didn’t defend their lead, and throughout the match kept on competing at the breakdowns, tackling back with great organised defence. Their rush defence seemed impenetrable. Players that stood out was firstly Jamie Roberts who seemed to make the gain line every time he touched the ball, his centre partner Davies was as impressive and at times kept the Irish defence guessing, his try coming from running into a defence of Cian Healy, Ronan O’Gara, Brian O’Driscoll and Earls, somehow finding a way through all four of them.

France on the other hand started very well against England keeping the intensity up and managing possession well to rush out to a 16-0 lead, but to be honest the second try of France was due to very poor defensive organisation by England and Foden making a very poor attempt to stop the ball carrier. What would be concerning for France is that they seemed to slack in the second half and allowed England to come back into the match which they gleefully accepted.

France will be seen as favourites because of their superior record against Wales, but then they have been by far the most inconsistent team at the Rugby world Cup. Wales will pay no attention to that, they say ignorance is bliss and in this case it seems the Welsh boys have not been made aware of the fact that they weren’t suppose to beat Ireland with their superior record in recent years, so most likely they won’t be to aware of the fact that they shouldn’t beat France next weekend either.

It’s going to be another cracker and so far this these two teams have shown possession and ball control is crucial to winning the world cup.

On the strength of today, it's difficult to see France toppling Wales don't you think?

I'm not sure France were a greatly better side today than they were in the pool. They seemed porous in defence and it seemed to take an age for their support to arrive at the ruck. They struggled to get over the gain line in direct mode and couldn't contain Tuilagi's crash ball game (same thing as against Tonga).

Wales will offer more threat in attack than England, and their defence was rock solid against Ireland's albeit limited attack.

Good luck for the Aussies later Biltong..

Thanks Ghost, not very confident though. I got a bad feeling about it.

biltong

don't worry I genuinely think SA will come through fine

We all get that feeling. I think it's the helplessness of sitting on the sofa hiding behind a beer/bacon sarnie and watching. Of course, I'm deeply grateful for it when I see those hits going in.

It'll be interesting who Lievremont goes for at FH. I suspect he'll stick with his two 9s, but Trinh-Duc put some nice kicks in to pin England back when he came on, which is the only way I think France will manage to beat Wales.

Wales will only win if they can sucker punch the French into playing loosely. I think Wales can win, but France must be slight favorites.

Don't agree. I think a similar gameplan to today. Play loose against France and you're asking for trouble. We need to be up in their face and stop harinordoquy and Bonnaire in their tracks. Cut off the supply to Yachvilli and put pressure on whoever plays 10.

I think it is eminently achievable and have confidence that Gatland will not allow the intensity to drop.
I don't believe their defence is as good as Irelands and I don't think their back row is as destructive. They do offer different challenges but I don't think they are as effective as ours.

Well i for one thought that Ireland would beat Wales by the same amount of points that Wales beat Ireland.

I also thought that England would beat France by 10/15 points, but as we all know France beat England.

So who to choose between Wales and France for the final? Although i think France have the more experience than Wales playing in tight games/knock out stages of the RWC...I realy think that if Wales play against France like they did against Ireland, then i think Wales will make it through to the final its self.

Good luck to both teams for next week.

Did anyone else see a lot of similarity in the left hand side attack of both France and Wales?

Weslh forwards need to take a look at the approach that Tonga took against France....

if Roberts is fit and North gets into the game more, it could be a huge plus for us laurie, or I'm hiping so anyway

the only way that I can see Roberts or North being more involved in the game is via link plays with your No.8 and blindside, The French will look at the Wales game looking for what might be perceived weaknesses,and the isolation of youre penetrating runners must be there, things is Gattland is smart enough to be onto it.

biltongbek wrote:

Here are the recent results between these two teams.

In the last decade France have won 9 of their last 12 encounters.

Since the last World cup:

France lost to Wales at the Millenium Stadium in 2008. Wales 29 – France 12.
France beat Wales at Stade de France in 2009. France 21 – Wales 16.
France beat Wales at the Millenium Stadium in 2010. France 26- Wales 20.
France beat Wales at Stade de France in 2011. France 28 – Wales 9.

I don't think that's goin to make any difference whatsoever. This is a young welsh team playing without fear and quite frankly your talkin about a history that isn't theirs anymore.
CMON BECHGYN. Let the new generation write its own history!!!

Hi Biltong.

You said that Wales have shown the importance of possession during the World Cup, yet Wales have had limited possession overall, as the tackle counts and possession stats have shown.

Also didn't JD2 weaved through the tackles of Earls. Healy. Kearney and Reddan, not Cian Healy, Ronan O’Gara, Brian O’Driscoll and Earls?

Thanks

Paul

rugbydreamer wrote:if Roberts is fit and North gets into the game more, it could be a huge plus for us laurie, or I'm hiping so anyway

Gotta love Scarlets fans they make up their own words, and even scream at Irish referees in Welsh

Although I don't think France have played their 'final' (ala Qf 07, Sf 99), I dint think they have enough to contain a welsh side
getting visibly better by the week.

To put it into context this is a welsh side that could tackle themselves to victory over NZ, but it won't happen this year

chewed_mintie wrote:Although I don't think France have played their 'final' (ala Qf 07, Sf 99), I dint think they have enough to contain a welsh side
getting visibly better by the week.

To put it into context this is a welsh side that could tackle themselves to victory over NZ, but it won't happen this year

I think your right chewed, itll be revenge for the one point loss in the group games this year, well save the blacks for the AI's next year

I have a feeling Lievremont may opt for two enourmous centres to try and foil Roberts and Davies's ball carrying.

Wouldnt be suprised if he picked Traille And Rougerie together.

polotechnics, perhaps I worded my meaning incorrectly.

What I meant by possession must not be seen in isolation only but what you do with the possession that you have. In both cases against Samoa and Ireland although Wales had less possession it was what they did with the possession that counted.

Against Samoa Wales had less possession but beat Samoa with 13 clean breaks and defenders beaten to 9, and against Ireland with even less possession wales beat Ireland in the same areas 20 to 16. It is as I have heard south Africa said after the Welsh test, respect the possession.

The other aspect of possession is defence and competing at the breakdown which wales did admirably against SA and Ireland.

As far as the defenders with davies' try I could be wrong. will see when the match is shown again and check it.