Rugby World Cup Blog | Jonah Lomu | 2007

"Unbeatable" France restore faith

Mon Sep 17 02:34PM

On Sunday a friend of mine took me to a local French market in the 17th arrondissement in the north-west of Paris - great produce and real characters selling their wares. I was given lots of things to try including some locally made Foie Grais which is one of my favourite things. A great way to start a day and of course a special French experience to be part of the "normal" scene. It was nice to take some time out to relax today. It's been a full on 2 weeks since I arrived and I've jammed a lot in, taken the Eurostar to London for some work, and traveled by the TGV to Marseille and Lyon.

I've had some great experiences and met some fantastic people. Last night my friend Pierre Barthes took us to friends of his in Vaucresson. It was a great night, being away from home and staying in a hotel (although I am very fortunate because my hotel is Le Crillon) it was great to be invited to someone's home and to enjoy great company, food and wine. It was a great night and my wife and I really enjoyed the wonderful hospitality.

Sunday also had some great games, including one I'm sure all of France were waiting for. The first game up was Fiji-Canada. The game was always going to be close. It was going to be a physical battle, that's the style of the Fijians but it came down to a heart breaking moment to decide the game when Canada were hard on attack and a Fijian flyer intercepted the ball sprinted the length of the field to score a try, dashing any hopes of a Canadian comeback or upset.

The second match of the day was special, neighbouring countries who compete so strongly against each other but who are great friends off the field - Samoa and Tonga. The Samoans started strongly and went into the break 12-6 ahead. For the first 15 minutes of the second half they camped in the Tongan half but were unable to capitalize and score the crucial points.

Their play was intense but handling errors and execution of moves hindered them from making the most of the opportunities. In the 60^th minute Tonga broke into the Samoans' half and made the most of the opportunity, scoring a try. This for me changed the game, giving the Tongan players the boost they needed. It was fantastic to seem them battle through the last 20 minutes to secure their second win in the tournament. Despite being down to 13 men for the last five minutes they just showed an incredible spirit.

Since the opening game on the 7th I've been looking forward to the French-Namibia match to see if the French could put the loss against Argentina behind them. I could see as the team lined up for the national anthem that this game was going to be very different from the first, the look on the players faces said it all. France started the game strongly making their intentions clear - to restore the pride and faith of the country in their team and in themselves. This game was crucial to the French to set their World Cup hopes back on track and they did so in typical French style.

Everyone in the team played a part and handled the ball, contributing to the tally of 13 tries. Handling errors from one or two players kept them from reaching a hundred points. It didn't help Namibia's cause by having to play 85% of the game with 14 men, it was really unfortunate that they lost a man due to the high tackle on Chabal. I don't think it was intentional, rather an instant reaction. There didn't seem to be anything malicious in it and it had such a big effect on the game. I take my hat off to Namibia for playing rugby in the fashion that they did by never giving up and for taking the game to the French, even with a man down. But the French flair and firepower from numbers 1 to 22 meant they were unbeatable on the night.

LIKES: A home cooked meal in France with some great new (and old) friends.

PLAY OF THE WEEK: Georgia – I've said it before and I'll say again, you are making this a great tournament!

Comments1 - 2 of 2

Thanks for your articles Jonah! I agree with your point of view, except for the red card. I think the namibian player fully diserved it, because when he high tackled Chabal, it was the second time he was caught by the referee for the same high tackle... But the other 14 guys didn't deserve this, and they never gave up... Bravo la Namibie!
From epotsirk on Mon Sep 17 04:29PM
Report abuse
what a game ! we usually do not really like french guys in rugby [only for rugby] but I might say .. looks like french flair is back .. as in 1999 ... remember jonah .? ;)
From kelkoofrancoisc on Tue Sep 18 02:28PM
Report abuse