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ENGLAND in the RUGBY WORLD CUP FINAL..... AGAIN!!!!
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| English Rachel |
I was being uber-lazy and hoped that someone else would start a thread but I can't wait anymore.... holy , that was nail-biting AND unexpected...
| quote: | England (5) 14
Try: Lewsey
Pens: Wilkinson 2
Drop-goals: Wilkinson
France (6) 9
Pens: Beauxis 3
Jonny Wilkinson landed two late kicks as the champions fought back to reach their second World Cup final in a row with a dramatic win over hosts France.
England took a second-minute lead through Josh Lewsey but two Lionel Beauxis penalties put France 6-5 up.
A penalty apiece from Beauxis and Jonny Wilkinson saw France lead 9-8.
Wilkinson hit a post with a drop-goal attempt, but landed a penalty and drop-goal in the last five minutes to stun France and send England through.
The match started in explosive fashion as England took the lead after just 78 seconds.
606: DEBATE
You have to feel for players like Chabal who gave everything and were in tears at the end - it was a titanic encounter
Cricketing_stargazer
Andy Gomarsall clipped a box-kick down the line and Damien Traille, usually a centre but playing out of position at full-back, dithered as the ball skittered along near the touchline.
When it popped up Traille momentarily slipped and Lewsey latched onto the ball before blasting over and through the Frenchman to score.
Wilkinson, whose kicking has been below par in France, missed the tricky conversion, with the ball snaking left of the posts as it has done all too often for the England's fly-half's satisfaction all tournament.
It was a stunning start for the champions but France were determined not to lose to England in the semi-finals twice in a row and they tried to hit back by playing with width and pace.
England, who beat Les Bleus 24-7 last time round, repelled a series of attacks before a large slice of luck helped France get on the board.
Beauxis tried a hugely ambitious drop-goal from near his own 10m line which was partly charged down by the towering Simon Shaw.
Josh Lewsey put England into the lead inside the first two minutes
Serge Betsen picked up the loose ball and when England infringed at the ruck, fly-half Beauxis drilled over the penalty to make it 5-3 after seven minutes.
England then conceded a couple of penalties and threw in some mistakes as well to help France build some momentum.
And when the massive Andy Sheridan, so impressive in the quarter-final win against Australia, was penalised for not taking the bind at a scrum, Beauxis edged France into the lead.
With 21-year-old Beauxis missing three long-range drop-goal attempts for the hosts and Wilkinson off target with a similar attempt for England, France were only a point clear at the break.
The hosts edged further ahead after 44 minutes through Beauxis' third penalty after England again infringed at a ruck but the visitors soon hit back through Wilkinson's boot.
Dan Hipkiss, on as a replacement for Lewsey after the Wasps man appeared to pull a hamstring, made a break to initiate a surging attack and when France fell offside Wilkinson landed his 50th World Cup penalty to make it 9-8.
France brought on the mercurial Frederic Michalak with half an hour to go but his first contribution was to miss a drop-goal from right in front of the posts.
England came agonisingly close to going back into the lead after an hour but Wilkinson's right-foot drop-goal came cannoning back off the woodwork.
France stopped Lewsey this time but the damage had been done
When France kicked the ball clear Jason Robinson beat four or five blue defenders on an electric run deep into French territory, but he was eventually halted and Phil Vickery was penalised at the resulting ruck to calm French nerves.
The let-off boosted French morale and after taking control territorially it took a tap tackle from replacement flanker Joe Worsley to prevent Vincent Clerc going over, with Sebastien Chabal eventually halted inches short from the winger's pass.
England were struggling to get out of their half but they eventually turned the tide as the match entered the last 10 minutes.
Toby Flood missed with a poor drop-goal attempt for the champions but, when Dimitri Szarzewski was penalised for a high tackle on Robinson, Wilkinson stepped up.
His 75th-minute penalty put England back into the lead and the World Cup-winning hero of 2003 added a drop-goal three minutes later.
The hosts threw everything at the champions in a series of desperate late attacks, but Brian Ashton's side held out to claim the chance to defend their title against either South Africa or Argentina in Paris next Saturday.
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South Africa next. Wow. |
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| jon jon |
| quote: | Originally posted by English Rachel
hoped that someone else would start a thread |
haha that was being optimistic... :)
ps. congrats! |
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| TranceGrooves |
I was hoping for the Argentenians to upset South Africa but that didnt happen. They got their ass kicked instead :(
oh well England it is!!!
Stronger and much faster side so it really should not be a problem for the Springboks to pull a win over Britts. The Britts will have to come forth with everything they have got. They arent the best team in the world cup but a semi ok team could do the job as the Africans will probably be still riding their great victory in the tournament earlier.
GO ENGLAND :D |
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| MKpacha |
my father is going insane over this....
ryan can vouch for my father's obsession with rugby. |
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| EvilTree |
| quote: | Originally posted by MKpacha
my father is going insane over this....
ryan can vouch for my father's obsession with rugby. |
smart man...
Sad about the Argies. They've come so far and I can see them being strong contenders, esp. if their defence is tight as they've been playing.
Goooo England! Just hope that Wilkinson doesn't screw up |
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| Time2Burn |
Congtats to England on making the finals, they can thank South Africa for waking them up in the round robin with that 36-0 DRUBBING!
Sorry but I don't see England winning this year. The Springboks are in fine form this year and are gonna bring the trophy home with them. I predict a closer game than the round robin but South Africa will prevail. |
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| trancechaos |
so this is my take on the rugby world cup final
England Vs South Africa
during the first round of this world cup England got its ass kicked 36 - 0 against south africa. therefore that gives south africa a huge mental advantage over england going into the final. on the other hand england is the defending world champion and they might snap out of what ever mental state they were in during the first round. also england might want this alot more then south africa does because they will want to pull a huge upset for the south africans.
i think that one of two things will happen, england will surprise the world and win and become the only northern hemisphere team to win two world cups in a row. (only northern team to ever win the world cup)
or
South Africa is going to walk all over them.
i hope its not the latter coz i in hate south africa. |
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| English Rachel |
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| The Highroller |
| France was not a happy country on Saturday, lol. |
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| loca |
You might have just put something like "World Cup Rugby Final" as the title... I was hoping to watch the semi games tonight as I had recorded them and had not yet had the occasion to watch them (and therefore didn't know the results).
Thanks a lot :confused: :( |
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| EvilTree |
| quote: | Originally posted by loca
You might have just put something like "World Cup Rugby Final" as the title... I was hoping to watch the semi games tonight as I had recorded them and had not yet had the occasion to watch them (and therefore didn't know the results).
Thanks a lot :confused: :( |
haha!
*points at laur* :p |
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| EvilTree |
| quote: | Originally posted by The Highroller
France was not a happy country on Saturday, lol. |
apparently rugby is bigger than football in france. truth? |
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