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England's Manu Tuilagi tackles France's Aurelien Rougerie - Source: Reuters -
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80min England 12 France 19
The penalty hits the post, but England are caught in goal and the referee blows full time. France have sent the 2003 champions packing and advance to the semifinals where they will meet Wales.
Never write off the French, they proved tonight they can beat anyone and could still be a threat at this tournament.
79min England 12 France 19
France win a penalty and Parra will kick to win the match.
76min England 12 France 19
TRY. England score a try, they took a long time to deliberate but it's given and they're still init. Flood misses the conversion however/
73min England 7 France 19
DROPGOAL. That should be the game, Trinh-Duc waited in the pocket and snapped a lovely kick. England now need two tries.
68min
Tuilagi gets a horrible pass above his head and spills
it. France get a scrum in the English 22. Could seal the game
here.
66min England 7 France 16
Flood throws a careless pass and France are able to clear the ball away and get out of trouble.
64min England 7 France 16
France lose the ball and England will pack a scrum just
near halfway.
62min England 7 France 16
France get close to the English line once more, but lose the ball forward.
61min England 7 France 16
France intercept a pass and get themselves out of trouble as England were trying to attack.
56min England 7 France 16
TRY. Ben Foden weaves his way past the defence and scores. England desperately needed that and the fans have come back to life. Jonny converts and they trail by nine.
52min England 0 France 16
England again when a penalty at the scrum and have to put points on the board here. They kick for the corner.
49min England 0 France 16
Toby Flood looks to be in some pain out there but it
looks as though he'll play on. French to feed a scrum.
48min England 0 France 16
France begin to threaten again but are penalised at the breakdown and England will go back into French territory.
46min England 0 France 16
England string some phases together but go nowhere and eventually lose it forward again.
44min England 0 France 16
Nothing working for England tonight. Tom Croft loses the ball as England start to threaten.
42min England 0 France 16
Yachvili kicks the ball out on the full and England will have a lineout in French territory.
40min England 0 France 16
England nearly score again but Wilkinson's pass to Ashton
goes over his head and into touch. That's half time.
France have been completely dominant in every area and England have no answers. Martin Johnson will have some very stern words no doubt
39min England 0 France 16
England's best chance of the match is gone. Ashton sped down the left flank and almost scored, but England can't capitalise.
36min England 0 France 16
French wing Alexis Palisson loses the ball in contact and
England get out of jail. But they're really all at sea here.
33min England 0 France 16
England win a penalty at the scrum and get a chance for some much needed territory.
30min England 0 France 16
Try! This time it's to fullback Maxime Medard who
receives a lovely inside ball and goes over. Conversion no good
again.
28min England 0 France 11
Again England are penalised. This time they're offside.
They will kick for the corner.
27min England 0 France 11
Mark Cueto drops the ball on the wing to kill an attacking
opportunity.
25min England 0 France 11
Flood tries a dropgoal but it's ugly and misses.
21min Englan
d 0 France
11
TRY. Vincent Clerc scores. He breaks down the lefthand side and
scores a remarkable individual try. Yachvili's conversion is
unsuccessful.
19min England 0 France 6
France knock the ball on from the back of an attacking scrum. England when a penalty at the resulting scrum and clear the danger.
17min England 0 France 6
Yet another penalty attempt for Yachvili. This time he's
away. England must sort out their discipline or they'll
struggle.
16min England 0 France 6
The English front row collapses and are penalised. Yachvili steps up and nails the kick again. Brilliant start for Le Bleus.
12min England 0 France 3
France are fired up! Vincent Clerc almost went in in the right hand
corner but the English defence scrambles to put him in touch.
10min England 0 France 3
England are penalised for not releasing the ball. Dimitri Yachvili steps up and nails the 40 metre penalty no worries.
8min England 0 France 0
This time England snaffle France's lineout ball to relieve some
pressure. Chants of "Allez Les Bleus" going up.
6min England 0 France 0
France win a penalty at the breakdown and get their first
real opportunity to attack.
4min England 0 France 0
England are looking to spread the ball early, but to
limited effect as that pass is loose and flies into touch.
2min England 0 France 0
Early attacking opportunity for England is squandered as
FRance steal a five metre lineout and clear the ball into
touch.
1min England 0 France 0
England centre Manu Tuilagi gets an early roar from the crowd as he breaks down the left hand side before being bundled into touch.
8:29pm
Rousing renditions of the two anthems and we're ready for kickoff. Standby.
8:26pm
Teams have just made it onto the field and the crowd is going crazy. There's a good party atmosphere in the crowd.
8:15pm
The teams have just finished their warm ups and headed back into the changing rooms. Jonny Wilkinson looked to be striking the ball ok off the tee. Let's see if he can k
eep it up when the pressure's on.
Both England and France are well represented in the stands here, but if I had to hazard a guess I'd say England have the numerical advantage. That could mean we hear more " Swing Low Sweet Chariot" and less "Allez Les Bleus".
Pre-match
The ancient Anglo-French rivalry will resume at Eden Park tonight as Wales' semi-final opponent will be found.
Both sides have had their share of criticism so far in this tournament, however it will count for very little if the can get up tonight.
Here's a look at the two sides:
England: 15-Ben Foden, 14-Chris Ashton, 13-Manu Tuilagi, 12-Toby Flood, 11-Mark Cueto, 10-Jonny Wilkinson, 9-Ben Youngs, 8-Nick Easter, 7-Lewis Moody (captain), 6-Tom Croft, 5-Tom Palmer, 4-Louis Deacon, 3-Dan Cole, 2-Steve Thompson, 1-Matt Stevens.
Reserves: 16-Dylan Hartley, 17-Alex Corbisiero, 18-Courtney Lawes, 19-Simon Shaw, 20-James Haskell, 21-Richard Wigglesworth, 22-Matt Banahan
France: 15-Maxime Medard, 14-Vincent Clerc, 13-Aurelien Rougerie, 12-Maxime Mermoz, 11-Alexis Palisson, 10-Morgan Parra, 9-Dimitri Yachvili, 8-Imanol Harinordoquy, 7-Julien Bonnaire, 6-Thierry Dusautoir (captain), 5-Lionel Nallet, 4-Pascal Pape, 3-Nicolas Mas, 2-William Servat, 1-Jean-Baptiste Poux.
Reserves: 16-Dimitri Szarzewski, 17-Fabien Barcella, 18-Julien Pierre, 19-Louis Picamoles, 20-Francois Trinh-Duc, 21-David Marty, 22-Cedric Heymans.
