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Les Bleues stand firm: Four takeaways from France v Ireland
By Martyn Thomas at Sandy Park, Exeter
France recovered from a 13-0 half-time deficit to beat Ireland 18-13 at Sandy Park and secure their passage to a ninth Women’s Rugby World Cup semi-final.
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Ireland scored first-half tries through Linda Djougang and Stacey Flood while Dannah O’Brien added a penalty.
However, Les Bleues withstood a five-minute spell of pressure at the end of the first 40 with only 14 players and with conditions in their favour in the second half hit back.
Charlotte Escudero and Joanna Grisez scored the French tries while full-back Morgane Bourgeois crucially kicked six points to take them past Ireland.
The Irish had a chance to win it at the end but French captain Manae Feleu rose highest to disrupt their lineout and the women in blue were able to see out victory.
Here’s what we learned at Sandy Park.
First-half defensive effort crucial
In real time you had the impression it was a crucial, perhaps game defining, passage of play and so it proved.
With captain Manae Feleu in the sin bin and the clock well in the red at the end of the first half, Ireland launched wave after wave of attacks at the French line.
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If the Blue wall had cracked then, Ireland would have had the opportunity to stretch their lead to 20 points.
Even with the wind at their backs, and conditions predicted to worsen, that would have seemed like a huge summit to climb for France.
But they soaked up the pressure and took considerable time off Feleu’s yellow card. Suddenly, it was Ireland looking at an unenviable second-half task.
The wind inside Sandy Park did not pick up as expected, allowing Ireland to stifle the French momentum for much of the second period but with the boot of Bourgeois Les Bleues were always in touch.
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Having taken a five-point lead late on, France needed to dig n once again as the clock ticked past 80 minutes. They stood up once again to book another World Cup semi-final.
Ireland dominated set piece
It is unfair in the extreme on Ireland that it was their lineout that faltered at the death.
For the 80 minutes prior to that the Irish set piece, an area in which the players in green were predicted to be second best, had more than held its own. It had dominated.
Part of the reason France were unable to clear their lines in the first half, allied to the conditions, was that Ireland turned the screw at scrum and lineout time.
Each of the starting Irish pack put in a huge shift at Sandy Park preventing Les Bleues from getting any forward momentum as the wind and rain lashed into their faces.
Ireland were also able to use their lineout as an attacking platform but weren’t able to quite capitalise at the end of each half. Had they done so, it would be Ireland preparing to play either England or Scotland in Bristol.
As it is, France weathered the storm and disrupted the Irish set piece to claim a ninth successive victory in the fixture and set couse for Bristol.
Wafer excels on return
Playing her first match following knee surgey, you might have expected Aoife Wafer to ease herself into her comeback. You would have been very wrong.
The Harlequins-bound flanker and her distinctive red headgear appeared to be everywhere in the first half as Ireland laid siege to the French line.
Wafer was able to make metre almost at will, giving Ireland the go-forward they so desperately needed to chip away at the resolute French defence.
There was one heart-in-mouth moment for Irish fans midway through the first half as she stayed down after a collision and appeared to be struggling with her heavily-strapped knee.
She stayed on the pitch and remained the heartbeat of Ireland’s assault on a second semi-final place, losing her headgear at one point at the end of the first half.
Wafer finished the match with 26 carries for 44 metres and completed nine tackles in defence. A huge shift.
Bourgeois kicking key
Having a player who can kick at goal as effectively as Bougeois can be a cheat code when conditions are as brutal as they were in Exeter.
Dannah O’Brien handled the wind as well as can be expected in the first half, aiming long kicks from hand to take advantage of the space in the French backfield.
But from the tee she was one from three attempts, her two conversions being knocked well off course by a devastating swirl at Sandy Park.
That gust died down somewhat in the second half and Bourgeois – a deadly kicker at the best of times – took full advantage.
Not many captains at this World Cup would back their goalkicker from the distance Feleu did early in the second half.
Her conversion and two penalties were absolutely vital to sending Les Bleues through.
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