[2014 EOYT] France vs Australia

[RoosTah]

Just seen the game. Well done to France - definitely much better team than the rabble they sent to Australia in June. That said, we looked far more a rabble ourselves than we did in June, and I really felt like the new coaching staff's approach to defence was clearly not quite there for the team yet and some of our options were very poor. All the same, we looked bloody close to stealing a victory right at the death there if not for some crap handling.

 

[gaston le gaff]

Very close game but France came out worthy winners in the end but a few desperate last minutes. at last something to work on!!!!!

 

[Big Ewis]

Another anthology try, Guirado gives Thomas the pass way too soon on a globally very nicely stringed movement with notably a nice skip pass in the mix but Teddy Thomas showing the sort of winger he is. It's going to be very tough for Guitoune to find that new Bleu jersey now...with Huget+Thomas, adding Dulin or Spedding we have one of the best back three in the world, probably in the top 3:




To think France were silly enough to commit two ENORMOUS mistakes on two try occasions. In the 1st half we're 5m from the line and give the ball back on the ground, in the 2nd half 5m from the line again, lineout catch and we commit a fkng obstruction, Weenie and Dusautoir, in stead of a maul...with the ascendency and go forward of our pack, those were two tries in the pocket, you can be sure.
But if we continue on this decent level, great intensity, and can actually fine-tuned problems in stead of backpedaling each test...we can be good again, without having to be godly from a preparation/coaching standpoint.

Imagine if it'd been Trinh-Duc leading this charge ? I'd have liked Picamoles, Slimani and Burban there also. We've got something real to build on, now.

 

[TheSaffycen]

Thomas is so powerful, will Guitoune or Clerc get a look in ?

 

[gaston le gaff]

Not at the moment but he has to improve his defence as it,s practically nonexistent. The problem is it's the 3rd game and there will be fatigue amongst some of the players.Argentina will play the game upfront against France so I think there will be front row changes at least, and Speeding could well be benched.

 

[The Jones Boy]

France are too random to win the next world cup.
They have made three finals, and to what effect?
They are like the Holland of the soccer world cup.

 

[Larksea]

I can say this now the AB's are world champs. I've said this many times.

Winning a WC is like rolling the dice, its nothing to do with form or who is the best team, rule books and form go out the window. Talking now about who will win the WC in ~9-10 months time is pointless.

you can talk about form and history going into the quarter finals then it all goes out the window. Heck SA won in 07 without having to play NZ, AUS or France and the biggest threat they had was from Samoa in the pool phase? >.<

France have shown again and again they have a big game in them and despite form and history they can beat anyone anywhere.

a Three test series with a build up and different refs shorts out who's best, one off knock out games in WC's which seem to have their own rule book no one has access too are another matter. may as well toss a coin.

in 2011 france were smashed by NZ in pool phase, struggled to beat, looked rubbish and couldn't even score a try against a 14 man welsh side and then went to push NZ harder than any side in the world could have on that day and had a couple of chances to win.

 

[Beau Geste]

Well done France. I thought the new front row in the 2nd half helped to steady the French scrum; the backs also showed up well. I thought the two half backs showed up well and gave them more go forward, which is better than what they had in the past with Parra and whoever else they played at 10, but which has not always worked out best for them. Conversely, the French scrum looked unsteady until the subs came on. But they also appeared to be more up for it, more enthusiasm.

 

[Big Ewis]

I can say this now the AB's are world champs. I've said this many times.

Winning a WC is like rolling the dice, its nothing to do with form or who is the best team, rule books and form go out the window. Talking now about who will win the WC in ~9-10 months time is pointless.

you can talk about form and history going into the quarter finals then it all goes out the window. Heck SA won in 07 without having to play NZ, AUS or France and the biggest threat they had was from Samoa in the pool phase? >.<

France have shown again and again they have a big game in them and despite form and history they can beat anyone anywhere.

a Three test series with a build up and different refs shorts out who's best, one off knock out games in WC's which seem to have their own rule book no one has access too are another matter. may as well toss a coin.

in 2011 france were smashed by NZ in pool phase, struggled to beat, looked rubbish and couldn't even score a try against a 14 man welsh side and then went to push NZ harder than any side in the world could have on that day and had a couple of chances to win.

true. Well phrased, hadn't thought about it like that. The human mind is always one to want to have certainty about everything, and because we're curious, we like to put our noses where they don't belong and predict things that are really far from our grip. Of course out of all the Rugby nations in the world only 4 have ever won the WC, and with other basic parameters we can narrow down our result and show some consistency in prediction. But who will effectively win the WC, nobody can tell and it would be ridiculous to even attempt an analysis.

 

[Bean]

in 2011 france were smashed by NZ in pool phase, struggled to beat, looked rubbish and couldn't even score a try against a 14 man welsh side and then went to push NZ harder than any side in the world could have on that day and had a couple of chances to win.

Probably more to do with stage fright for NZ than a super performance by the Frogs.

 

[French TommyGun]

Well I for one am very happy with Saturdays performance! I know we weren't perfect but we we're good we played with strength and flair and look like an actual Decent French side. And bigger Bastareaud as prop was a revelation to me! Never seen him play before. He rolled over someone after a tackle and looked like he was going to flatten him like a rolling pin on soft dough!! That is one Big dude!!
This is definitely something we can build on and a team to be proud of.

 

[gaston le gaff]

As far as the WC goes anyone amonst 4/5 teams can win it, firstly you qualify from the pool games and then its one match at a time and if lady luck happens to be around anything can happen ( a forwrd pass unnoticed, a bad or good bounce etc) The WC is entirely different from anything else and the teams that play well under pressure always do well. Of course NZ will be favourites, but they are every WC, so the team to beat, England need to improve even if it was tough opposition they lacked in several areas.SA will always be in with a shout, Australia a long way off and France well it depends on a million things, if the million are all good who knows but you have to know how they actually tick and thats not easy. I've been involved for many years and i think i now know, but still surprised now and again. When and if all the injuries are over France can provide a stern test for anybody as they have often proved in the past, but there is still a problem in the coaching dept which will not be resolved before the WC....

 

[tituslechmakus]

Probably more to do with stage fright for NZ than a super performance by the Frogs.

True, it was just ABs being frighten by the event on that day ! They didn't want their dreams to be stopped again by those damn froggies ! And after their awful start of match, their worst nightmare was comming up ! But fortunatly for them, we didn't have the opportunities, due to ABs 16th player : Craig Joubert ! Maybe the best kiwi on the pitch that day ! He wasn't frightened !

 

[French TommyGun]

True, it was just ABs being frighten by the event on that day ! They didn't want their dreams to be stopped again by those damn froggies ! And after their awful start of match, their worst nightmare was comming up ! But fortunatly for them, we didn't have the opportunities, due to ABs 16th player : Craig Joubert ! Maybe the best kiwi on the pitch that day ! He wasn't frightened !

I agree, Craig Joubert played amazingly that day and did the All Black jersey proud! He will go down in New Zealand rugby history for his contribution in winning to that World Cup finale!

 

[TRF_stormer2010]

I am always amazed by Kiwi fans playing down SA winning the RWC in 1995 (conspiracy theories) and 2007 (oh, you didn't have to face NZ) when 1) NZ weren't good enough on the day in 2007 to get to a place where we could face them and 2) they didn't have to face an in-form SA in 1987 and had a golden ticket to 2011 with 2 horror ref performances meaning they didn't have to face SA and had France in the final who couldn't buy a penalty from a stunned Joubert through Lawrence and Joubert's shock performances respectively. Pot, kettle, All Black.

Why even bring it up here? A French team finding some semblance of synergy albeit haphazrdly and kinda unplanned through the inclusion of new personel beat Aus. No surprises here really, France have had the defence in place for a while now and they just needed the ability to put a few tries on the board and have it now seemingly altough the consistency remains to be tested. It was bound to happen IMO sooner rather than later and I have been saying so in other threads; there is enough depth in quality, there just needs to be some synergy and though unscripted by the staff it has kinda 'fallen into place' which it was bound to do at some stage all factors considered.

 

[gaston le gaff]

whatever happens in the next 10 months beforez the WC the players have not a lot of confidence with the coaches and they could well go the way of 1999 and 2003 when they took it on themselves to play how they wanted and that is dangerous for everyone, one of the main problems with the French set up at the moment is they are being told to play as per the coach, which is just not how they function, i personnally think they have not much chance on paper, but give the park as their own they could create surprises but we are long way off for the moment, but the 2 wins will instore confidence which was badly needed.

 

[unrated]

Heck SA won in 07 without having to play NZ, AUS or France and the biggest threat they had was from Samoa in the pool phase? >.<

.

I might be off topic considering its an France vs Australia thread but it wont help responding to this post in another thread.

I Wonder how the England fans will feel that you do or did not consider the 2003 rugby world cup defending champions as a threat against South Africa who played us in the group stage and in the final.
That same team was on a winning streak against the Springboks up until a year before the world cup. How about Argentina who went on to be the third best team in the tournament?

 

[tituslechmakus]

Well that's the last time I copy Planet Rugby's prediction.... :huh:

Overall I really enjoyed this match. I thought France were clearly the better side - they looked more dangerous with ball in hand, and made less than half the errors Australia made - though their ill-discipline almost cost them in the end. It was entertaining watching the Wallabies scrum dominate in that first half, though France improved immensely in this area when they changed their props in the 2nd half.

How could you not enjoy ? You're a kiwi living in Aus !!! Same as if I say, I really enjoyed SaF winning in Twickenham

I am always amazed by Kiwi fans playing down SA winning the RWC in 1995 (conspiracy theories) and 2007 (oh, you didn't have to face NZ) when 1) NZ weren't good enough on the day in 2007 to get to a place where we could face them and 2) they didn't have to face an in-form SA in 1987 and had a golden ticket to 2011 with 2 horror ref performances meaning they didn't have to face SA and had France in the final who couldn't buy a penalty from a stunned Joubert through Lawrence and Joubert's shock performances respectively. Pot, kettle, All Black.

Well you know, being French, I must say the Bennazzi try or non try in 95' semi final could have deprived SaF and the world of that historical moment we all know. So I'm not too much on regrets thinking of that ... And in 07, loosing to England in semi, again, was harder but not as unacceptable as the 2011 final !
Loosing in semi is not so catastrophic as you still would have had the final to play. But loosing in final for some unfair reasons is another thing. It is admited in France that we did not deserve our place in final ! We've lost to Tonga in pools ! And did a crap match in semi against Wales. But we do not accept the fact that NZ won the final, because of Joubert's magnificent performance ! Even if ABs are a much better side than us, they did not deserve victory on that particular match.
And nothing schocking for me to have had SaF winning the 2007. I just wondered if the result would have been the same if France played the final to SaF. We had won in SaF just a year before WC ...

Why even bring it up here? A French team finding some semblance of synergy albeit haphazrdly and kinda unplanned through the inclusion of new personel beat Aus. No surprises here really, France have had the defence in place for a while now and they just needed the ability to put a few tries on the board and have it now seemingly altough the consistency remains to be tested. It was bound to happen IMO sooner rather than later and I have been saying so in other threads; there is enough depth in quality, there just needs to be some synergy and though unscripted by the staff it has kinda 'fallen into place' which it was bound to do at some stage all factors considered.

Did you see the 3 last 6N ? I'm a bit scared we will use these november tests as an example and to a very bad 6N in Feb ... Again ... Our staff is lost and uncompetent ! We cannot get the consistency and confidence required to win the WC after 3 years of unsuccesfully trying to build a team ... I think this win to Aussies is a mistake !

 

[French TommyGun]

This made me happy.
They even look like a real team!

 

[Big Ewis]

@***uslechmakus no this win is clearly no mistake. Have you seen the full match, the full 80minutes ? We were clearly on top the entire match, should've had some calls that never came including at least one yellow, worked through the phases, dominated up front, our defense was immense and put them under pressure, tremendous error-making pressure at times, one of their tries was only possible because of Teddy Thomas again they just went in so easy. We blew a couple of sure tries with the forwards 5m from the line. We had actual attacking form, not just individual initiative like usually, our ruck/phase work had continuity unlike during the tour of Australia, it was only close because Australia played a great last 10min 15 against 14...etc..etc...

Definitely not a mistake or a fluke, it's a confirmation of the Fiji game in fact. Whether this form we're on will turn out to be ephemeral or not is the question, but whether this form is accidental is not a question. And there's lots to work on still, and we were missing some key guys who were to make a difference: imagine Trinh-Duc+Lopez, an on-form Parra back, Picamoles, Burban, Dulin, etc...and even Guitoune although I wouldn't know where to put him !..

This made me happy.
They even look like a real team! 

haha yeah we actually did, what a crazy miracle