Honour in defeat might keep Laporte in job
THERE is unlikely to be another match where the cliché “a game of two halves” could be more appropriate. This was incredible stuff.
Much had been made also of Bernard Laporte’s philosophy on how to play the game, with the French press and supporters lamenting his abandonment of the beautiful game for discipline and organisation. They were not going to stand for a repeat of their indifferent form and Laporte’s job was unlikely to survive it.
Ironically, in defeat Laporte will survive because to their credit, France rediscovered their true mission in life — to run with the ball.
And how they ran. Sitting in the stand after thirty minutes, you couldn’t dream of anything other than a comprehensive French victory. After half an hour it was like rewinding 10 years, with waves of blue jerseys swarming all over the sun baked Stade de France.
Gerrard Merceron had been handed the task of orchestrating the French revival after Christophe Lamaison was dropped after some indifferent performances.
How he responded to the challenge. A dropped pass in the opening minutes was not a sign of things to come as he varied his game well, distributing with purpose and constantly asking questions of the Welsh defence with some intelligent breaks. One such break created a brilliant try for Bonetti under the sticks and when Merceron converted, it looked as if France were on their way.
In truth they should have been, but they managed to leave three try scoring opportunities behind them, two of which were down to bad luck more than anything, but crucially it kept Wales in the game.
Jenkins inevitably helped keep them in touch with unerring accuracy with the boot but you felt it was only a matter of time before they wilted.
Then came the turning point. With France cruising and looking forward to half time, Scott Quinnell surged forward deep in his own 22, as he had done to little effect up to then. This time he broke the tackle and released Rob Howley. One thing this guy has is pace and it was obvious the French midfield cover would not make up the ground. It was left then to Jean Luc Sadourny to plug the gap and with Howley still 50 metres out he might have expected the troops to arrive. They couldn’t get there because of Howley’s pace and he eventually burnt Sadourny who was in the impossible position of facing a three on one. You still thought it was only a blip and that France would regroup after the break but they reckoned without the Welsh resurgence.
Wales managed to hold the initial French onslaught early in the second half.
Then came another crucial incident — France lost Merceron to injury. Not that Lamaisson isn’t an able replacement but Merceron had been in the groove and its hard to keep that momentum going coming off the bench. To Wales’ credit, they were a transformed side and its hard to argue with their superior try count.
Nevertheless, France will cringe when they look back at the elementary defensive errors that led to two Welsh tries. Just when they had re established a grip on proceedings they offered up a simple score to Scott Quinnell.
Thereafter, the tide turned and the game entered a hectic period with France throwing everything at Wales to rescue the game.
Enter Neil Jenkins. I for one would have been critical of his performances this season to the extent that the Lions might have been beyond him this time. Yet when Wales needed control and vision in the closing quarter, he delivered and by the time he dived over for the final act, you could sense the passport might need one more dusting.
