French fly past the Irish; England wins

France's Imanol Harinordoquy scores a try as Ireland's Simon Easterby looks on during their quarterfinal World Cup match at Docklands Stadium in Melbourne, yesterday. PHOTO: REUTERS

France used its impressive flair and speed to overwhelm Ireland with 27 unanswered points in the first half on its way to a 43-21 win and a semifinal berth at the Rugby World Cup.

France, which ran through its pool matches with a perfect 4-0 record and was rarely tested, showed it was a definite threat for its first World Cup, scoring four tries.

France will play the winner of the England-Wales quarterfinal -- to be played later Sunday in Brisbane -- in next Sunday's semifinal in Sydney.

Australia and New Zealand will play in the other semifinal next Saturday. The winners of each semifinal will play in the final on Nov. 22 in Sydney.

The match was the last for 32-year-old hooker and Irish captain Keith Wood, who announced his retirement after the contest following a succession of shoulder injuries over the past year.

"I've had lots of great days, I'm hanging up the boots" said Wood. "I think being involved in this World Cup, this group of players, was very special.

A fan of France with a cock painted on her face ahead of the match between France and Ireland at Testra Dome Stadium in Melbourne, yesterday. PHOTO: AFP

"This has been a highlight. It's unfortunate it ended on a downer, but such is life."

Flyhalf Frederic Michalak set up France's first try by flanker Olivier Magne and kicked four conversions and five penalties -- nine from nine attempts -- for 23 points and increase his tournament-leading points total to 101.

Winger Christophe Dominici, No. 8 Imanol Harinordoquy and prop Jean Jacques Crenca scored the other French tries. Center Kevin Maggs scored Ireland's first try in the 52nd minute, his 14th in tests and first in a World Cup match, and center Brian O'Driscoll added Ireland's final two tries, his second on fulltime.

England's Jason Robinson, left, runs with the ball as Jonathan Thomas, center, and Stephen Jones from Wales miss tackling him during their Rugby World Cup quarterfinal match at Lang Park in Brisbane, yesterday. PHOTO: REUTERS

"We couldn't get out of our own half, they were all over us," said Irish coach Eddie O'Sullivan. "We didn't really know what hit us. They completely out-muscled us out front. Today was a tough day."

"Full credit to the French, they took their opportunities -- they finished the little gaps they made for themselves," added O'Driscoll.

Michalak kicked downfield to start Magne's opening try. The ball was taken by Harinordoquy, who passed off eventually to Magne who scored in the third minute.

A mistake by Ireland in the French end resulted in France's second try. A missed pass was taken by Magne, who passed along to hooker Raphael Ibanez and flanker Serge Betsen before Dominici went over for a try.

Harinordoquy scored the third French try in the 33rd minute and Michalak's third conversion of the half put France up 24-0 before Michalak's second penalty gave France its 27-0 halftime lead.

Michalak added his third penalty two minutes after halftime to put France up 30-0 and the French continued the dominance that they had displayed before halftime.

Crenca scored in the corner to put France ahead 35-0 in the 48th minute that included a flick pass from Magne to Harinordoquy, and Michalak again hit the conversion.

Ireland finally scored when Maggs ran around two French defenders after a pass from Wood.

Ibanez was given a yellow card and sent off in the 64th minute for continued infractions at the ruck, despite being warned several times by South African referee Jonathan Kaplan.

It took Ireland just one minute with an extra man to score its second try when O'Driscoll took a perfectly weighted kick from Wood and touched down.

It was O'Driscoll's 20th test try, and he added his second of the night in the final minute of play.

England 28, Wales 17

England overcame Wales 28-17 on a piece of Jason Robinson brilliance and 23 points from Jonny Wilkinson in a Rugby World Cup quarterfinal Sunday that had shaped as the biggest shocker of the tournament.

England went to the break trailing 10-3 after the Welsh scored twice in five minutes after the half hour and had the world No. 1 rattled.

But Will Greenwood crossed in the 44th minute after Robinson's brilliant solo run and Wilkinson added five more penalties to his first-half goal and ensured England's semifinal berth against France with a dropped goal in the last minute.

The Welsh, who gave New Zealand a scare before losing 53-37 last weekend, again proved they're a match for the world's top teams by scoring three tries and conceding just one. Goal kicking and discipline again was the difference, with the Welsh on the wrong end of a 17-9 penalty count.

"We battered ourselves against them, but they defended well and led us into the break," said England captain Martin Johnson. "We took control in the second half, but we were a bit too sloppy to be happy with it."

Johnson said he was disappointed with England's performance in the first half, with his forwards turning over possession in rucks and mauls and losing three lineouts against the throw.

"Our lineout fell apart, we got turned around and their defense got on top of us," he said.

Coach Clive Woodward will be concerned that has team conceded more tries in one night than it had in four previous games. England has a week to regroup before facing the French, who outclassed Ireland 43-21 in an earlier quarterfinal at Melbourne.

Robinson's counter-attacking raid after halftime turned the match. He started just inside the Wales half and used his blistering pace to beat seven defenders on a 45-meter run before drawing the defense and unloading to Greenwood, who crashed over in the right corner.

The former rugby league international had shifted from the wing to fullback in a late reshuffle after Josh Lewsey and Ian Balshaw were both ruled out with leg injuries.

Wilkinson, playing his 50th test, converted from the sideline to level at 10-10 and then kicked goals in the 48th, 52nd, 57th, 62nd and 66th minutes to give the English a 15-point buffer as the Welsh conceded a glut of penalties.

After missing a certain try in the 54th minute when Mark Jones opted to go himself with Shane Williams unmarked on his outside, the Welsh crossed for a third touchdown when Martyn Williams pounced after Lawrence Dallaglio couldn't handle Ceri Sweeney's high kick into goal.

Stephen Jones, who sparked the scoring move with a strong run into the English quarter, converted from out wide to reduce the margin to eight points.

But Iestyn Harris missed a long-range shot at goal in the 75th and the English held on for its 11th win over the Welsh in the last 12 tests.

Wilkinson opened the scoring with a 47-meter penalty goal in the 18th minute, but the attack in the 40 minutes was dominated by the Welsh, who used unconventional tactics to unsettle the highly-drilled English.

Winger Williams handled twice in the opening try, fielding a high kick and easily beating lock Ben Kay on the left flank and rushing upfield before trading passes with fullback Gareth Thomas and juggling twice before unloading to tryscorer Jones.

The Welsh were in again in the 35th after England winger Ben Cohen was penalized for not releasing the ball 10 meters out.

Wales opted to kick for touch, lock Robert Sidoli won the lineout in the middle and the skipper Colin Charvis barged across.

Jones missed both conversions and an earlier attempt at a penalty.

The English were clearly rattled. Wilkinson missed his first shot at goal and a dropped goal and then Cohen put up a pointless crossfield kick for Neil Back -- which Mark Jones handled easily in-goal -- when England had been awarded a penalty directly in front of the posts.

The win was a major relief for England after losing in the quarterfinals in 1999 when Janie de Beer booted five dropped goals for the South Africans in Paris.

In a match littered with milestones, England prop Jason Leonard made his 111th test appearance, equaling Frenchman Philippe Sella's all-time record. He was replaced by Trevor Woodman in the 44th minute.