After a summer of disharmony, Les Bleus are back in action with their talisman Antoine Dupont but there are problems from within the ranks
Mark Mapletoft’s side demonstrated their ability to squeeze teams in that last four success, holding the Irish scoreless in the second half to win 31-20 after leading 22-20 at the interval.
The French, who are chasing a fourth successive world title in a row, swatted aside New Zealand 55-31 in their semi-final last Sunday.
The French, who are chasing a fourth successive world title in a row, swatted aside New Zealand 55-31 in their semi-final last Sunday.
Beaten 26-27 by an 80th-minute Baby Blacks penalty in a July 4 pool match in Stellenbosch, the French only reached the last four as the tournament’s best runner-up across the three pools courtesy of last Tuesday’s victory over Wales.
Beaten 26-27 by an 80th-minute Baby Blacks penalty in a July 4 pool match in Stellenbosch, the French only reached the last four as the tournament’s best runner-up across the three pools courtesy of last Tuesday’s victory over Wales.
It's semi-finals Sunday at the World Rugby U20 Championship and following last Tuesday’s weather-affected schedule, the hope will be that all six matches will be played to an 80-minute conclusion unlike on match day three when there were just four and a half matches completed due to the heavy rain making pitches unplayable.
Three matches are scheduled for Stellenbosch: Ireland vs Georgia (kick-off 2pm local), France vs New Zealand (4:30pm) and South Africa vs Argentina (7pm). Over in Athlone, Wales vs Spain is the opening match (2pm) followed by England vs Fiji (4:30pm) and Australia vs Italy (7pm).
The arrival of Stade Toulousain back-row Mathis Castro-Ferreira has shaken up the 23-man Bleuets squad that will face New Zealand.
The Spanish have the honour of opening the pool the DHL Stadium this Saturday, taking on a French team that didn’t fire on all cylinders in a Six Nations campaign that only merited third place.