France's scrum-half Dimitri Yachvili (centre left) runs with the ball during the IRB Rugby World Cup quarter final between England and France at Eden Park in Auckland, New Zealand, Saturday, Oct. 8, 2011. (AAP Image/AFP, Franck Fife)
Half-backs were in full control last night when Dimitri Yachvili and Mike Phillips led France and Wales into a Rugby World Cup semi final confrontation next weekend.
Yachvili was the conductor for France to waltz all over unbeaten England 19-12, Phillips the Welsh Goliath to crush unbeaten Ireland 22-10.
It was underdogs night after France had been thumped by the All Blacks 37-17, with a shock loss to Tonga 19-14 in their pool clashes.
And Wales still smarting from the 17-16 loss to the Boks in a game they should have won.
The No 9s were the catalysts.
Yachvili, and Phillips, enjoy plenty of toe. They are fast off the mark, and were both shrewd operators around the park dictating play with deft passing either side, or judicious kicking.
But they are vastly different physically – Yachvili 85 kgs and 182cm – Phillips a whopping 101kgs, and 191cms, by far the biggest of the eight quarter final half-backs.
The others:
* Piri Weepu (All Blacks) – 94kgs, 178 cms.
* Conor Murray (Ireland) – 91kgs, 187 cms.
* Fourie de Preez (Boks) – 88kgs, 183 cms.
* Ben Youngs (England) – 87kgs, 178 cms,
* Will Genia (Wallabies) – 85kgs, 182 cms.
* And Nicolas Vergallo (Argentina) – 77kgs, 169 cms.
Yachvili will find Phillips a handful in their battle to which one will be in the big one.
The after-match reactions last night:
Winner: Emile Ntamack, the French assistant coach in his broken English – “Just fantastic, we were very bad against Tonga but we have two faces – sometimes we are worse, sometimes we are genius like today”, which translates to he has no idea what French team will turn up on any given day, it’s a lottery.
Loser: Martin Johnson, England’s coach – “You can’t give a team like France 16 points at the break. We had defence lapses on the edge and they scored tries, but we had plenty of chances and just didn’t take them”, which translates to we made passes without purpose, we missed critical tackles, our handling was pathetic, and we over-ran support. Net result – exit.
Winner: Kiwi Warren Gatland, coach of Wales, former coach of Ireland, and the next All Blacks coach – “We weren’t ready to go home, we have a good blend of experience and exciting youth”, which translates to Gatland’s vision, selecting a 23-year-old captain in openside flanker Sam Warburton, who has turned up trumps, a virtual rookie goal-kicking fly-half Rhys Priestland (24), and 19-year-old winger George North to supplement a vastly experienced pack.
Loser: Brian O’Driscoll, Ireland’s skipper – “It sucks”. No translation required: Exit for the Irish.
Phil Waugh is hopeful that windfalls from the 2025 British & Irish Lions tour and the 2027 RWC will be more than enough to pay back the debt.
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