France falters in the end

Tuesday, 12 November 2013 01:18 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

The French style of rugby has always been unpredictable. They are very much like Pakistan in world cricket. Depending on which team that turns up, one can expect a sterling performance or a drab affair. The French side that turned up to face the All Blacks was the former full of determination and self belief. It finally took some individual brilliance by the All Blacks winger Charles Piutau to win yet another dramatic Test match. As a result the All Blacks recorded their eighth successive win over the French and their 12th from 12 Tests this year.

The win was not easy by any stretch of imagination. Many believe that the All Blacks were fortunate to be level after a bruising and blistering first half and it was 12-12 soon after the break. The least-experienced player in an All Blacks team which incidentally boasted a world record 853 caps, showed his immense speed to score from long range. His exceptional skill was on show 15 minutes from the end when a superb pass put # 8 Kieran Read over. Read has now become a serious try scoring option. Without doubt France produced one of the best performances this year although they did not achieve the desired result. They outplayed the All Blacks in most areas in the first half, by frustrating the All Blacks with some great defensive work. They then stretched the All Blacks defence more thoroughly than any team this year, forcing them to miss tackles. New Zealand was also guilty of too many turnovers. It could be argued that the All Blacks failed to adjust to South African referee Jaco Peyper’s interpretation and ruling. Roared on a by a crowd of 80,000, France dominated the closing minutes. Dulin scorched over from close range to score a scintillating

try and # 8 Damien Chouly nearly had their second minutes later but he was held up. The All Blacks were relieved to win a scrum penalty on the stroke of full-time to deny the gallant and pugnacious French side. In the other games, the Wallabies had an easy win over Italy. The Argentina/England game was also of some interest. Whilst the score line could suggest that the win was easy for England, the Argentineans had the better of the exchanges in the second half. The Wales/Boks game was also very tight and the Boks did not have it easy most of the time. Injuries in the first-half to Jonathan Davies, Liam Williams and Adam Jones would have thrown Wales’ game plan. Perhaps the team’s most important back and forward were removed and Wales had to swap things around. South Africa’s first try was sensational. Bryan Habana made the break, offloaded to Bismarck du Plessis who put De Villiers over, a fantastic effort. In all the frenzy of international rugby, the efforts of the Lankan Tuskers in the sevens circuit went almost unnoticed. Once again the Tuskers gave a good account of themselves and managed to retain their slot in the circuit. Unfortunately these games are not given adequate coverage by the TV broadcasters and as a result our following is limited to the various sites on the internet. (The writer can be reached via [email protected].)

France falters in the end

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