Usksider Photographic

Wales’ World Cup dream ended in Auckland this morning when they failed to beat France in the first of the 2011 Rugby World Cup semi-finals.

It would be easy to place Wales’ defeat squarely at the feet of referee Alain Rolland (Ireland) following his bizarre and game-changing decision to red card Wales captain Sam Warburton for a ‘dangerous tackle’ on Vincent Clerc in the 19^th minute of the match, but the truth is Wales missed four shots at goal, which would have seen the 14 man side safely through to next weekend’s final.

France, who lost twice in the pool stage and have seemed very much out of sorts, looked dangerous with ball in hand on occasion; stern Welsh defence prevented them crossing the whitewash however.  Morgan Parra was successful with three penalty attempts, two in the first half and one in the second.

The only try of the game was scored in the second half by Wales scrum-half Mike Phillips. Steven Jones’ conversion attempt, which would have given Wales a one point advantage, hit the upright and bounced wide.

James Hook was successful with one penalty attempt from three opportunities in the first half and Leigh Halfpenny’s shot at goal from the half-way line dipped just below the bar with just six minutes playing time remaining. Had any of the four missed chances gone home I have no doubt the end result would have been very different and Wales would have gone though to the world cup final. Despite their numerical superiority France never looked like deserving victors.

Final Score:

France 9 – 8 Wales