France marched into the Rugby World Cup semi-finals with an emphatic 43-21 win over Six Nations rivals Ireland, Les Bleus dazzling the Telstra Dome crowd with four high-quality tries.
The French signalled their intentions from the very beginning as they sent the ball out wide from the word go and fly-half Frédéric Michalak was quite simply magnificent every time touched the ball.
The Toulouse No.10, who is quickly challenging England's Jonny Wilkinson as the best in the game, stamped his authority early in the game when he chipped the ball out to the right-wing for powerful No.8 Imanol Harinordoquy to gather, pop it off to centre Tony Marsh, who in turn passed on to flanker Olivier Magne to charge over for the first try.
The French made it all look so easy and it was a sure sign of things to come ...
France dominated all phases of the game and the loose trio of Magne, Serge Betsen and Harinordoquy were sublime as they marauded Ireland's ball like a pack of rabid dogs and provided their exciting backline with copious amounts of quality ball.
The angles of running employed by the French were a joy to watch as they glided through gaps at will, with some desperate defence by Ireland's inspirational skipper Keith Wood and some French errors, mainly down to over-eagerness, allowing the Irish to keep their opponents at bay.
Ireland matched the French side's silky running with pure grit and determination as they began to find their feet midway through the half and bashed away at the defence with strong runs through midfield, but France were just as awesome on defence as they were on attack as they swamped the Ireland players in a sea of blue -- with that man Betsen leading the way.
It took a chip over the defence by Irish star centre Brian O'Driscoll to beat the defence and Christophe Dominici was forced to hack the ball into touch, setting up Ireland with their first real opportunity of the game.
But the resulting move was broken down due to some phenomenal defence by France and when an Irish pass went awry, Les Bleus pounced. Betsen was again involved as he linked up with Dominici, putting the little winger into space for the try. Michalak continued to make it look all too easy as he slotted his second conversion -- keeping his 100 percent record intact.
France stretched the lead to 27-0 at the break after the loose trio again turned ball over close to the Irish line for Harinordoquy to dot down.
Ireland were immediately under pressure following the re-start as fly-half Ronan O'Gara knocked on to hand possession back to the French and after prop Reggie Corrigan gave away a penalty in the resulting scrum, Michalak kept his team rolling on with the penalty goal.
The 20-year-old fly-half continued to dictate proceedings as he danced through the defence not long afterwards to set up play five metres from the Irish tryline as hooker Raphael Ibañez bashed his way through. Michalak was then on hand to send the ball out to Magne, who linked up with prop Jean-Jacques Crenca for a simple run-in. That after Crenca had handled in the early stages of the move.
Ireland coach Eddie O'Sullivan then opted to replace O'Gara with veteran No.10 David Humphreys and the move proved to be the better option for the Irish as the French took their foot off the gas slightly, allowing Ireland back into the game and when centre Kevin Maggs blasted through the gap there was nobody at home to stop the try.
Humphreys made no mistake with the conversion.
The try sparked the Ireland side into action as they looked to close the gap, but the pressure proved too much as Humphreys knocked on when the line was in sight. France then made sure the revival was short-lived as they again began to pile on the pressure.
Another Michalak penalty reasserted the French authority before the game began to break down. Both teams began to send on the replacements and then Ibañez was sent to the sin bin as he continued to infringe at the breakdown -- something the entire French team was guilty of doing.
Ireland took advantage of the extra man and in the next movement Humphreys stabbed it through for O'Driscoll to chase over and score.
Humphreys converted and O'Driscoll picked up a second not long after, but it all came too late for Ireland with the French well in front and already on the way to the Telstra Stadium in Sydney for a semi-final clash against one of England or Wales.
Man of the match: For Ireland, skipper Keith Wood can take a bow with another big game in front and around the park, while O'Driscoll did what he could with limited ball, but it was the French loose trio of Olivier Magne, Imanol Harinordoquy and Serge Betsen who ruled the day -- with Betsen just pipping his two partners for the award with a tireless display on attack and defence.
Moment of the match: There were plenty of brilliant moments during the match, but it was Ireland captain Keith Wood's tearful post-match interview that highlighted the passion of the Irish, bringing an end to a remarkable World Cup career for Wood and presenting an example of true sportsmanship to many others who have little.
Villain of the match: There was the occasional bit of niggle, but nothing serious, so French hooker Raphael Ibañez collects this award for his continuous negative play at the breakdown earning him 10 minutes in the sin bin.
The Teams:
France: 1 Jean-Jacques Crenca, 2 Raphael Ibanez, 3 Sylvain Marconnet, 4 Fabien Pelous, 5 Jerome Thion, 6 Serge Betsen Tchoua, 7 Olivier Magne, 8 Imanol Harinordoquy, 9 Fabien Galthie (c), 10 Frederic Michalak, 11 Aurelien Rougerie, 12 Yannick Jauzion, 13 Tony Marsh, 14 Christophe Dominici, 15 Nicolas Brusque
Reserves: Yannick Bru, Olivier Brouzet, Pepito Elhorga, Brian Liebenberg, Olivier Milloud, Patrick Tabacco
Unused: Gerald Merceron
Ireland: 1 John Hayes, 2 Keith Wood (c), 3 Reggie Corrigan, 4 Malcolm O'Kelly, 5 Paul O'Connell, 6 Simon Easterby, 7 Keith Gleeson, 8 Victor Costello, 9 Peter Stringer, 10 Ronan O'Gara, 11 Shane Horgan, 12 Brian O'Driscoll, 13 Kevin Maggs, 14 John Kelly, 15 Girvan Dempsey
Reserves: Guy Easterby, David Humphreys, Eric Miller, Marcus Horan
Unused: Shane Byrne, Anthony Horgan, Donncha O'Callaghan
Attendance: 33134
Referee: Kaplan j.
Points Scorers
France
Tries: Dominici C. 1, Crenca J-J. 1, Harinordoquy I. 1, Magne O. 1
Conv: Michalak F. 4
Pen K.: Michalak F. 5
Ireland
Tries: O'Driscoll B.G. 2, Maggs K.M. 1
Conv: Humphreys D.G. 3
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