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A plucky French team made Australia graft to take their place in the final against holders New Zealand.
When prop George Ghazal, who went on to pick up the Aussie man of the match award, breached the French tryline after only four minutes and Clint Lovering added the conversion, one feared for them.
When French full-back Cedric Olieu misjudged a towering kick under the light four minutes later centre Jordan Atkins zoomed in to touch down. Lovering was again on target with the goal and it looked as if the floodgates were about to open.
The Toowoomba centre struck again on the 12th minute and Lovering made the conversion look easy as the lead shot up to 18 points without reply. Robin Villa had a chance to increase the lead just before the half hour but his penalty was off the mark.
On the half-hour France almost conceded another try but referee Father Geoff Hilton had spotted a knock-on in the build-up.
So the score remained 18-0 at the break and the home supporters were wondering just how many points their men would clock up in the second half. Even when Ali Karouche knocked on with the line beckoning with five minutes of the second half gone, it looked as if the points would continue to flow.
But France tightened up their defence and got stuck in to their task with relish, going close to the Aussie line on several occasions. Indeed on another day and with more luck they may have scored a try or two.
However the outcome was probably sealed on the hour when the normally
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reliable Robin Villa spilled another steepler and this time home fullback Jonathan Crawley lost no time in snapping up the chance to make the score 22-0.
Lovering was just wide with the conversion and although the French never gave up the fight the match fizzled out in to a very scrappy last quarter. So Australia got what they wanted and the French were handed a chance to gain revenge for their first round defeat by England as they will meet in the play off for third and fourth place.
Australia;
Tries: Ghazal (4), Atkins (8,12), Crawley (60)
Goals: Lovering 3.
Man of the match
Australia : George Ghazal. Apart from his early try the front-row man was a tower of strength to his side all the way through.
France : Romaric Bemba. The French second-row man must have covered every blade of grass as he tried to put the brakes on Australia and also get his side on the move.
Referee: Fr Geoff Hilton (England).
Australia.
1 John Crawley; 5 Kevin Stephenson, 3 Jordan Atkins, 2 Nathan Tolloy, 19 Ali Kourouche; 6 Sam Williams, 11 Luke Hilton; 10 Quin Smith, 9 Chris Fleming, 8 George Ghazal, 18 John Ellis, 13 Clint Lovering, 12 Matt McKinnon. Subs (all used) 20 Mitchell Gaal, 4 James Rahme, 16 Ben Groves, 15 Shane Wooden.
France: 4 Cedric Olieu; 5 Robin Villa, 21 Mathieu Almarcha, 12 Andrew Bailey, 3 Christophe Calegari; 7 Gregory Tiquet, 6 Sebastien Hascoet; 16 Marc Osmont, 19 Sylvain Teixido,8 Sebastien Amigas, 20 Romaric Bemba, 10 Nicolas Bouillet, 11 Thomas Valette. Subs (all used) 13 Guillaume Reffle, 9 Romain Dintilhac, 2 Mohamed Chaabi, 16 Jonathan Laskowski
Article by Chris Leak
14 Jul 2005
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