Women’s Rugby World Cup: France vs New Zealand in the semi-finals
Victorious against Italy, Les Bleues validated their ticket to the fourth round where they will face the Black Ferns, hosts of the competition.
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© Michael Bradley/AFP
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TheFrance, which defeated Italy (39-3) thanks to a hat-trick from its winger Joanna Grisese, will face the semi-finals of the Women’s Rugby World Cup next Saturday in Auckland, New Zealand. The part imposed on Wales (55-3). Les Bleues, aiming to do better than the bronze medal they secured at the 2017 World Cup, will challenge the world champions, on home turf, in their temple at Eden Park, the scene of the exploits of the All Blacks.
Gaëlle Hermet’s teammates, thanks to a much more successful second period than the first, validated their ticket in the Final Four on Saturday as they took revenge on the Italians, who bludgeoned them in a preparatory match in Biella at the start of September (loss 26-19). “We had a pretty great game: we ran the first half very well when we were upwind, we kept that, and then, in the second half, we told ourselves we had to drop the horses and that’s exactly what we were doing,” the captain rejoiced. Blu after the meeting.
As is often the case between these two formations, which was their fourth encounter this year, the match took place in a tense atmosphere, given the stakes, but also the total knowledge one had of the other. The French and the Italian alike got stuck in the wrong rhythm, during a meeting that took the time to go from the slow, tedious tone to the more playful and spinning tone the crowd had the right to expect from a World Cup quarter-final.
Les Bleues lacked realism in the first act
Therefore, it was necessary to wait for almost an hour of play for the French to finally free themselves, after a penalty attempt awarded by the Scottish match referee Holly Davidson. “I’m the one who scores goals, but here I think above all about everything we’ve done to finally break free from the back and that feels good,” said Griese, who covered 162 meters in his hand.
The first try of the match came very quickly, however, after a fine overhead from Emily Pollard, he was voted man of the match. Starting at 22 meters to sneak into the Italian defence, she only had to give the test to Grisez between the posts (7-0, 3e).
But the rest of the first period was not at the same level, as French women often confuse speed with haste. Often punished and losing a lot of balls, they fail to embody their territorial dominance (65%).
The second half by one
Italy, who were so motivated in their first World Cup quarter-finals, boys and girls alike, more than resisted, defending hard (20 tackles by Francesca Sgorbini alone), until they managed to score the first three points – and only (7-3). , 39e).
Upon his return from the locker room (10-3), the French refused three attempts, until the referee awarded them a penalty kick, following a yellow card penalizing Silvia Turani (20-3, 63).e).
For opener Caroline Drouin, a difficult situation to manage could have hurt the French, but “we didn’t panic: I think that’s where we grew up too”. He was released and in numerical superiority Bleues was then freed, chains three attempts by the hooker Laure Touyé, who had just come into play (65)e), and by Grisez (68e70e), to permanently collapse the match.
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