| Rugby: Under 21 - France 32 Australia 17 |
|
|
| Thursday, 22 June 2006 | |
|
(sportal.com.au) Host nation France has run in three second-half tries to down the Australians 32-17 at the IRB Under 21 World Championship. Australia led 17-12 at the break, but was unable to get any quality ball to the backs in the second half, while the French, lifted by their home crowd, stormed into the final against South Africa. Scrumhalf Josh Holmes ran in a try in the opening minute for the visitors, but the French responded quickly when they charged down an Australian kick to send winger Florian Denos over. Only minutes later the home side charged down another Australian kick, and they crossed again through prop Yohan Montes. But Australia struck back, first with a goal to Liam Bibo before hooker Tatafu Polota-Nau put the Australians in front with a converted try. The second half, however, was all France, as they dominated possession to run in three tries. Denos completed his double while replacement Yann Fior also managed to get over twice. Australia will now face New Zealand, who they beat earlier in the tournament, in the third-place play-off, and coach Chris Hickey said his troops would fight back in that fixture. "It's always tough to lose and, naturally, the players are disappointed, but the tournament's not over – there’s still one match to go and you can bet New Zealand will get up for that game, and we have to too," Hickey said. "I was pretty happy with the way the boys played in the first half and they (France) had a bit of luck with their first two tries." "In the second half, to France's credit, they were able to put a lot of pressure on us, particularly at the set piece, which didn't leave us with a lot of quality ball." |
| < Prev | Next > |
|---|
