EXETER, England (Reuters -France needed to dig deep to hold off Ireland to avoid a shock exit at the Women’s Rugby World Cup on Sunday with their resilience earning them praise but their performance coming in for self-criticism.
France were 13-0 down to Ireland at halftime of their quarter-final tie at a wet and windy Sandy Park but bounced back with 18 unanswered second half points to book a semi-final clash against top ranked England in Bristol next Saturday.
“It was a nail-biter but we managed to win and reach the semi-finals. That was our main objective,” Gaelle Mignot, co-coach of the French told TF1 television.
“We’re going to enjoy it, even if it wasn’t easy but what we showed was fantastic. We had a 13-point deficit at halftime but in the change room, we were calm and showed we’re a squad ready to fight until the end. That could help us go far,” she added.
Winger Joanna Grisez, whose breakaway try put France ahead with 13 minutes left, said they were surprised by the performance of the Irish, looking to reach the semi-finals for a second time in contrast to eight previous last-four appearances for the French.
“We gave ourselves a scare. We knew it would be difficult, but not that complicated. But I’m proud of my teammates because towards the end of the match, we showed we had great character. I’m relieved too,” said Grisez.
Pauline Bourdon Sansus, the influential French scrumhalf, added: “It was really tough. The conditions didn’t allow us to play well. We were very undisciplined, but we showed our character.”
She added there were plenty of positive lessons ahead of their next clash against the heavily fancied English.
“This match served us well. We showed solidarity and a fight, but we need to improve on our lack of discipline. I really hope we can go as far as possible. It’s another big challenge next week, we’ll quickly turn our attention to this match tomorrow,” said Bourdon Sansus.
(Writing by Mark Gleeson in Cape Town; editing by Pritha Sarkar)