England and France will lock horns at Telstra Stadium in Sydney to battle it out for the remaining spot in the final of Rugby World Cup 2003.
Form Guide
England may have come into this Tournament as joint favourites with New Zealand, but it is France who will start this semi final as favourites after their more impressive performances en route to the last four.
France were one of only two teams to secure maximum points from the Pool phases – the other being New Zealand – as they maintained their record of never having lost a Pool match with victories over Fiji (61-18), Japan (51-29), Scotland (51-9) and the USA Eagles (41-14).
Only the latter kept France under 50 points, although Les Bleus did field their second string side for this Pool B finale in Wollongong having already been guaranteed a place in the quarter finals of the Tournament.
England by comparison started and finished strongly with emphatic wins against Georgia (84-6) and Uruguay (111-13), overcoming South Africa in their much hyped Perth meeting and being given a massive scare by Samoa in the middle.
In the quarter finals France raced into a 37-0 lead against Ireland before ultimately winning 43-21 in Melbourne. England by contrast trailed Wales 10-3 at half time and were again thankful for Jonny Wilkinson’s trusty kicking boots clinching a 28-17 win.
England, by reaching the last four unbeaten, have won five matches at a Rugby World Cup for the first time, while for France this is their first semi final against a fellow Northern hemisphere team having played Australia, South Africa and New Zealand in their three previous appearances at this stage.
Previous meetings
The two teams have met on 82 occasions with England holding the edge with 44 victories to France’s 31, seven of the encounters having ended in draws. England won the first 35-8 in March 1906 and the last 45-14 in September.
This encounter will be their third at a Rugby World Cup, England having emerged victorious 19-10 from the quarter final at the Parc des Princes in Paris in 1991 and France 19-9 from the third/fourth place playoff four years later in Pretoria, South Africa.
Ins and Outs
France coach Bernard Laporte has kept faith with the starting XV who cut Ireland to shreds in the first half in the quarter final, tinkering only with his bench to make four changes for their encounter with fellow Six Nations heavyweights England.
Two of these changes are forced with Olivier Brouzet ruled out of the Tournament with a shoulder injury and wing Pepito Elhorga also flying home to France following the death of his father. David Auradou and Clement Poitrenaud take their places.
In the other changes for Les Bleus, Christian Labit replaces Patrick Tabacco with Laporte preferring his power to Tabacco’s line out ability, while centre Damien Traille comes in for Brian Liebenberg.
By contrast England head coach Clive Woodward has made four changes to his starting XV, the most significant being Richard Hill’s return to the back row after a hamstring injury and Mike Catt getting the nod at centre after starring as a replacement against Wales.
Hill has not figured since the opening game against Georgia, but replaces Lewis Moody, who moves to the bench along with Mike Tindall in order to accommodate Catt.
Dan Luger drops out completely with Jason Robinson switching from full back to wing and Josh Lewsey returning to the No 15 jersey after missing the Wales victory with a minor hamstring strain.
The other change sees Trevor Woodman come in as prop with Jason Leonard dropping to the bench, leaving the England veteran to sweat over whether he will in fact make his record breaking 112th international appearance.
Key Players
The battle between the fly halves will be interesting with Jonny Wilkinson so pivotal to England’s game and Frédéric Michalak, three years his junior at 21, emerging as a star for France and the only player at RWC 2003 to pass the 100 point barrier.
Stand by for some big hits in the centre with Tony Marsh and Yannick Jauzion coming face to face with Will Greenwood and Mike Catt in the England midfield, while Fabien Galthié and Matt Dawson will battle it out at the base of the scrum.
There will be plenty of pace on both wings with England boasting Ben Cohen and Jason Robinson while Les Bleus have Aurelien Rougerie and Christophe Dominici - four players who can turn a match in the blink of an eye with a simple sidestep or change of gear.
The return of Richard Hill, who has missed the last four matches with a hamstring problem, to the England back row is important with France boasting what many consider to be the best back row in the world with Serge Betsen, Olivier Magne and Imanol Harinordoquy.
What they said
England head coach Clive Woodward on the game against France:
“Test match rugby is about winning and we’ve got a winning mentality even though we’ve not been playing that well. Clearly France comes into the match with the better form but at 20:00 on Sunday night you can tear all the postscripts up and it will be 15 v 15.”
On selecting Mike Catt at centre at the expense of Mike Tindall:
“Clearly he’s been playing very well. I don't think it's a slight on Tindall at all. Catt deserves his chance. I see absolutely no gamble in this at all. You don’t gamble on a semi final of a World Cup.”
Coach Andy Robinson on the French forwards:
“One of the great things about playing the French is they have the ability to destroy your set piece. Every scrum, every lineout is going to be a massive occasion in this game. We have total respect for the French scrum, they’ve shown they are the world's best scrummagers.”
French hooker Raphaël Ibanez on the semi final against England:
“There will be enormous intensity. Technically, it will be very important to be physical. This is one of their [England’s] best qualities, their physicality, but it’s not so much that you can’t match them.
“We know it will be a big event for both teams. The English have planned for this game for four years now and so have we. I have no doubt that they will be ready.”
France coach Bernard Laporte on the anticipation of playing England:
“It’s the match we've all been waiting for ... obviously we had a difficult quarter final with the Irish to get through first. But England are the red-hot favourites since the start of the Tournament and this is a chance for France to get revenge for the Six Nations, and whatever happens, this [match] still means a European team will play in the final.”
On England’s performances in the Tournament to date:
“I don’t think the English have dropped away in form at all, in fact I think the opposite. They’ve managed to come through a couple of really tough matches against Samoa and Wales and still win. I still feel they are the favourites. This is still a very, very strong English team.”
On picking the same starting XV:
“It’s the same team that played against the Irish. I was very pleased with the performance so it was easy to pick the same team for this match. On the bench there are a couple of changes due to injury or other circumstances.”
Match details
France v England
Telstra Stadium, Sydney
Kick off: 20:00 local time
Match officials
Referee: Paddy O’Brien (New Zealand)
Touch judges: Stuart Dickinson (Australia) and Nigel Williams (Wales)
Television match official: Andrew Cole (Australia)