Sydney, Nov 17: England beat France 24-7 so are through to World Cup final. Jonny Wilkinson kicked England to a 24-7 victory over France in the World Cup semi-finals on Sunday (November 16) to join Australia in next Saturday's final. French flanker Serge Betsen scored the only try of the match, but Wilkinson guided England home with five penalties and a hat-trick of drop goals. The match deteriorated into a kicking contest after heavy rain and wind made the conditions slippery and France paid dearly for their poor discipline. Winger Christophe Dominici was sin-binned for tripping Jason Robinson and Betsen was yellow-carded for a late tackle on Wilkinson. Next week's final is a rematch of the 1991 decider which Australia won 12-6 at Twickenham. France, runners-up in 1987 and again four years ago, face New Zealand in the third place playoff on Thursday after the All Blacks were beaten 22-10 by Australia on Saturday.


With a place in the final at stake, both teams shows signs of nerves and there was little fluency to the game as the teams struggled to hold on to the ball.


Jason Leonard made an early appearance as a blood substitute, earning a world record 112th cap.


England opened the scoring in the ninth minute when flyhalf Wilkinson potted his first drop goal with his right boot, but France responded immediately with a try to Betsen.


The blindside flanker won the ball at the back of the lineout and darted through a gap. He was tackled just short of the line, but his momentum carried him over and New Zealand referee Paddy O'Brien raised his arm to award the try after consulting the video official.


Frederic Michalak converted from near the touchline, but France failed to add to their tally because the flyhalf missed four penalty shots.


Wilkinson also missed three penalties and a drop goal, but succeeded with eight other kicks to swing the game England's way.


He missed his first penalty attempt when Dominici was sin-binned for the trip on Robinson that not only cost him 10 minutes in the bin but forced him to limp off injured.


Wilkinson made amends for his early miss to put the European champions 12-7 in front at halftime with two penalties and two drop goals, both off the right foot.


Michalak and Wilkinson both missed long-range penalties shortly after the re-start before France paid the penalty for their ill-discipline.


A third Wilkinson drop goal, this time off his left foot, gave England an 11-point lead with 22 minutes to go. His opposite number, Michalak, was subsituted and Wilkinson hammered home England's dominance with another two late goals to put them into their second World Cup final.


Captain Martin Johnson said afterwards that they had contained Michalak, who had been the star of the World Cup tournament.


"We pressured him (Frederic Michalak), he was quite a young guy and you know, I thought our defence -- you know, we didn't give away many penalties apart from myself in the first half, so it was just a great display and we needed the passion and you know, the forwards questioned ourselves before the game and I think we came through."


Teams: England - 15-Josh Lewsey; 14-Jason Robinson, 13-Will Greenwood, 12-Mike Catt (21-Mike Tindall 69), 11-Ben Cohen; 10-Jonny Wilkinson, 9-Matt Dawson (20-Kyran Bracken 69); 8-Lawrence Dallaglio, 7-Neil Back, 6-Richard Hill, 5-Ben Kay, 4-Martin Johnson (captain), 3-Phil Vickery, 2-Steve Thompson (16-Dorian West 79), 1-Trevor Woodman (17-Jason Leonard 79).


France - 15-Nicolas Brusque; 14-Aurelien Rougerie, 13-Tony Marsh, 12-Yannick Jauzion, 11-Christophe Dominici (22-Clement Poitrenaud 34); 10-Frederic Michalak (20-Gerald Merceron 63), 9-Fabien Galthie; 8-Imanol Harinordoquy, 7-Olivier Magne, 6-Serge Betsen (19-Christian Labit 63), 5-Jerome Thion, 4-Fabien Pelous, 3-Sylvain Marconnet, 2-Raphael Ibanez, 1-Jean-Jacques Crenca (17-Olivier Milloud 61). Referee: Paddy O'Brien (New Zealand).


Bureau Report