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Magnifique! Unbelievable!
In English or French it adds up to the same thing - the most fantastic
fightback in World Cup history. Forget the beef war and just savour the
Sunday roasting which France inflicted on the mighty All Blacks in front
of a capacity 75,000 at Twickenham.
They quite simply
destroyed the proudest and most prodigious rugby nation on the planet with
a brand of rugby which at last flew the flag and restored pride in the
northern hemisphere. And when you consider that comeback, after trailing
24-10 five minutes into the second-half, came after they had been shattered
by two trademark wonder tries from rugby's man-mountain Jonah Lomu, it
really was one of the sporting performances of the decade.
It brought 26 points in 14 unforgettable second-half minutes, 33 points in all in that wondrous half, which blew the myth of the men in black. The All Blacks are not supermen after all. Not when attacked from all corners and at bewildering angles by the likes of fly-half Christophe Lamaison, who scored 28 points and was at the heart of everything so wonderfully creative about this French performance.
Not when they faced the mesmerising running of Christophe Dominici, the little winger who weaved and jinked his way through the All Black defence like a rapier through Camembert. Not when they faced the speed of France's other sprightly wing Philippe Bernat-Salles and the rhino-charged rampaging of Oliver Magne and Marc Lievremont. No wonder the French substitutes rushed to their heroes at the end and kissed and hugged and kissed again before running around Twickenham on a lap of honour which was as emotional as it was deserved.
Never has 'La Marseillaise' been sung quite so heartily by so many English throats - rugby fans who realised they had witnessed history in the making. Ironically, All Blacks coach John Hart had warned of impending doom when earlier this week he had admitted France - written off by rugby experts after dismal displays against the likes of Canada and Namibia - were the one team who could produce the one BIG rugby performance.
In his worst nightmares he could not have envisaged it happening in
a World Cup semi-final. But it did, thrillingly and gloriously.
Even the critics of this flawed tournament, with its rank-bad organisation
and disrupted feel, must admit that at its denouement, it is glowing as
brightly as any that have gone before. The prize for France is a final
against Australia next Saturday at the Millennium Stadium - and no-one
should back against these Gallic gladiators.
For if Australia proved against South Africa that they are as tough and as hard to grind down as Ayres Rock, then France demonstrated what flair, panache and passion can inflict on the most solid of foes. Curiously, it was a match which began uneventfully, with no sign of the drama to follow.
New Zealand took a 6-3 lead, though they never looked entirely comfortable against the unpredictable decision-making of the French. And in the 19th minute we got the first vibrant thrust of which we knew the French were capable. Dominici, a waspish irritant to New Zealand all afternoon, swept forward on one of those typically mesmerising runs deep into the heart of the All Black defence. He jinked past one defender, stepped outside full-back Jeff Wilson and looked certain to reach the line until a last-gasp desperate tackle from Christian Cullen hauled him down.
The chaos had been created, however, and from the ensuing ruck, the ball was swung swiftly to Lamaison, who romped home unchallenged for the touchdown. The conversion gave France a 10-6 lead and the cynics who reckoned the All Blacks only had to turn up to win, were beginning to rue their confidence. A Mehrtens penalty brought it back to 10-9 and then came the grand entrance of Mr Lomu. "Jonah Lomu scores more times than Casanova," proclaimed the banner in the crowd.
And it seems that way in World Cups at least. There were four of them against England in that momentous semi-final back in 1995. Another shattered England a month ago. You would have got better odds on Elvis turning up in Richmond High Street than France winning this game after Lomu had conjured up two more tries from his World Cup bible of wonder touchdowns.
The first arrived after 23 minutes - Lomu gathering a flicked pass from Christian Cullen and leaving three men instantly in his wake before blasting his way through another six Blue shirts for a 35-metres try. The impossible Lomu can do straight away. Miracles take a little longer, but only a matter of five minutes into the second-half where Lomu is concerned. This time he swapped passes with Jeff Wilson to half-weave, half-bulldoze his way through another five men for the score which the whole of Twickenham believed had put New Zealand into their second World Cup final.
Perhaps the All Blacks went against everything in their own strict rugby upbringing and believed the game was over also. That's the way it looked - but that would be doing an injustice to the quite phenomenal rearguard action which ensued and which was overseen by the mercurial talents of 28-year-old Lamaison. Instinctively, he realised flair and precision were required and a series of deft chips forced the New Zealanders on to the defensive.
The brilliant Dominici capitalised to race in for a fabulous touchdown as the All Blacks defence spread-eagled in rare panic. A Lamaison chip then saw pacy centre Richard Dourthe beat the defence to the third touchdown and suddenly a great blue tide was washing away New Zealand's World Cup dreams. When Bernat-Salles then shrugged off Tana Umaga to race 45 metres for France's fourth try the game was up. And while New Zealand managed a late consolation from Wilson, it was in truth no consolation at all.
The New Zealanders trudged off with moods as black as their shirts and the French treated Twickenham to a celebration of engaging euphoria. They skipped and danced around the pitch embracing in living duvets of hysteria. It truly was a rhapsody in blue.
© PA Sporting Life Ltd.