France lost the World Cup semi-final against New Zealand

The French learned that a big challenge awaits them on Sunday afternoon, in the World Cup semi-finals. Les Bleues shouldered their shoulders with New Zealand, the double defense champion, the Olympic champion in Tokyo last year, and above all, with the team that defeated them in two finals, the 2021 Olympics and the World Cup. 2018. Once again, they surrendered against the global benchmark (7-38).

The New Zealanders dominated the match from their first possession, and the Olympic Vice-Champions’ response to the first ball, through Joanna Greces (7-7), did not doubt. Then they unfolded, and immediately took the advantage back, thanks to a good mix behind the scrum, and managing the last action in the first period perfectly. Three minutes after the siren, dictated by its rhythm, and causing penalties against the French, they sounded (21-7). And in the second half, they never glimpsed the slightest relaxation, as they scored three new attempts, the last of which was thanks to the aggressive defense that surrounded the French in their own net (38-7).

Show that we know how to recover

“We didn’t succeed in playing rugby, and we weren’t ourselves, Regrets Chloe Bailey. We weren’t daring enough, we weren’t advanced enough. And they played very well, congratulations to them. Now you have to sweep and go third, and show that you know how to bounce back, because that’s the hallmark of great teams. » On Sunday (7:01 pm) Les Bleues will play the bronze match against the United States (beating Australia 17-7 in the first half).