"We're back" was the message coming out of the French camp after their vital 25-3 World Cup victory over Ireland at the Stade de France on Friday, but there was realism that the hardest has yet to come.
France took hold of the Pool D game early on and never released their vice-like grip, stifling anything the Irish threw at them and orchestrating two brilliant second half tries to romp away to victory.
The relief and joy was palpable in Paris, with coach Bernard Laporte praising the way his team have rebounded from their opening defeat to Argentina (17-12).
PHOTO: AP
"We had to play well and win of course," said Laporte, reflecting on the fact that a defeat would almost certainly have seen his side eliminated.
"We took the match by the scruff of the neck. We knew how to build our game, we were patient, apart from two or three plays in the first half but overall it was good," he said.
At one stage, with Ireland reduced to 14 players after Paul O'Connell's yellow card, France looked set to push on and try to secure a bonus point -- but they fell two tries short of that.
PHOTO: AFP
Something which seemed to be on everyone's minds after the match.
"We didn't get the bonus, which is a shame but the important thing was to win and put ourselves well ahead of the Irish, so it is mission accomplished," Laporte said.
"On the whole we dominated, although it's a shame we didn't get the four tries. Their first line of defense was quickly up on us, they were on the brink of offside," complained fly-half Frederic Michalak.
The win puts France on 10 points with Ireland on nine, meaning that if the hosts beat Georgia next week and earn the bonus point four tries would give them, they are definitely through to the quarter-finals.
However, they are not taking that for granted, especially after Georgia came within a whisker of beating Ireland a week ago, before falling 14-10.
"Qualification is not yet won, we can't take Georgia lightly," warned center David Marty before offering an olive branch to the Irish, who look to be heading home.
"If they don't play a tactical game and just open up, they can do it," he replied when asked if Ireland can beat Argentina in their final game. "When they open up like they did at the end of the match, they're difficult to contain."
Laporte was just happy his side have rediscovered their form.
"It wasn't easy after our first clash against Argentina but both against Namibia [a 87-10 victory] and today the players showed up," Laporte said.
Winger Vincent Clerc paid tribute to the French defense.
"It was great defense, an exceptional achievement, whether with our ball or theirs we worried them a lot," he said.
"Suddenly they didn't have much of the ball, we were very aggressive in defense and that makes the difference without doing much, you win by just going back to basics," Clerc said.
Scrum-half Jean-Baptiste Elissalde credited the team's forward play.
"Ireland caused us some problems in the first half but then they cracked because our forwards were very physical up front," Elissalde said.
MARRED FINAL: As most of Senegalese players walked off the pitch after a controversial decision, some supporters threw objects and attempted to get onto the pitch Senegal on Sunday won the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) as Pape Gueye’s extra-time winner sunk hosts Morocco 1-0 after a chaotic final that saw the eventual champions storm off the pitch late in the game. Brahim Diaz could have won the trophy for Morocco with a controversial spot-kick in the 24th minute of added time at the end of normal time as ugly scenes broke out in the stands. However, Senegal goalkeeper Edouard Mendy easily saved the weak attempted “Panenka” chip by the Real Madrid winger, who was clearly distracted by the long delay that followed the penalty award.
The Philadelphia 76ers, fueled by 36 points from Tyrese Maxey and a triple-double from Joel Embiid, on Thursday beat the Houston Rockets 128-122 in an NBA overtime thriller. Cameroonian big man Embiid scored 32 points, grabbed 15 rebounds and handed out 10 assists, posting the ninth triple-double of his career to help the Sixers end the Rockets’ three-game winning streak. Rockets star Kevin Durant scored 36 points and Amen Thompson added 17, but Thompson was scoreless in the fourth quarter. Even so, the Rockets led by nine midway through the final frame, Maxey tying it at 115-115 with 40.1 seconds left. Durant missed a
Qatar’s Nasser al-Attiyah on Saturday secured his sixth Dakar Rally car title in Saudi Arabia with Luciano Benavides scraping home by two seconds to claim the motorbike title. “We’ve worked very hard since last year. I might not be showing much emotion yet, but it’s there, deep down. We are so happy to win,” al-Attiyah said at the finish. Al-Attiyah, at the wheel of a Dacia, only had to avoid a final day slip-up to top the podium after bringing his career tally of stage wins to 50 on Friday. The 55-year-old, who took clay pigeon shooting bronze at the
Tobias Harris on Monday scored 25 points as the Detroit Pistons held off the Boston Celtics to score a 104-103 victory in their top-of-the-table Eastern Conference showdown. Harris was one of four Detroit players to finish in double figures, with Jalen Duren adding 18 points and point guard Cade Cunningham scoring 16 points with 14 assists. The win sees Detroit extend their lead at the top of the Eastern Conference to 31-10, 5.5 games ahead of second-placed Boston, who fell to 26-16 with the defeat. Jaylen Brown led the Celtics scoring with 32 points and almost snatched victory in the
RSS