Larriviere, Nov 18: French fans magnanimous in semifinal defeat to England. France's 24-7 loss to England in the semi-final of the Rugby World Cup was a big disappointment for residents of Larriviere, a rugby-mad village in southern France, at the heart of the French 'Land of the Oval Ball'. Gathered at an Irish pub where beer was being served from early in the morning, about 100 supporters of the French team followed in anguish the game being played in a torrential rain in Sydney. If hopes that Les Bleus would work their magic on the English had been high the previous day, when a mass to support the French team was held at the town's chapel of Notre Dame du Rugby, once the game started on Sunday it soon became apparent that the Virgin Mary must have been listening more to Jonny Wilkinson's prayers than those of the French. As the match became a kicking contest because of heavy rain and winds, France seemed to lose all concentration, while a superbly precise Wilkinson kept kicking England home with five penalties and a hat-trick of drop goals. Larriviere is in a little-known corner of France, on the eastern edge of the great forests of the Landes and just to the south of Armagnac country, a place where everyone, from the town's priest to the youngest kid, is an unrepentant rugby fan.

They cherish the game so much that, despite their disappointment in seeing the French suffer an embarrasing defeat, they still managed to conjure up words of praise for the English team and even applaud their victory.


One fan, Emelyne, said: "The French played an inferior game, so it's understandable that they should lose."


Another, Dominque Sellard, commented: "The British pushed forward all along, we recovered some balls but they were always hard to play in the conditions. In the scrums we were not bad, but we were all the time under the pressure of the British, who played great. They played a kicking game and the few balls we could have exploited, we always played them moving backwards."


The pub's barman, Jean Michael, said: "We did not deserve to win this match. The British team have been the best team in the world for the last two years and it's logical that they made it to the final. I hope they'll win, because they deserve it! We will drink to them. Let the best one win!"


Next week's final will be 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.


Bureau Report