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PARIS - France avoided a traumatic early rugby World Cup exit and are now ambitious again despite the remaining threat of a quarterfinal against New Zealand.
Yesterday's 25-3 win over a brave but ill-disciplined Ireland means France will probably not become the first hosts to fail to survive the group stage of the tournament.
"The smiles are back on our faces," centre Damien Traille said after the two-time World Cup finalists showed patience and composure to win the do-or-die match.
"We feared the World Cup might be all over and we were determined not to let that happen. The adventure continues."
A win with a bonus point over Georgia in their last pool D match on September 30 would send France through to the last eight but to top their group they need Ireland to beat Argentina by more than seven points and with at least four tries, assuming Argentina get a bonus-point win over Namibia tomorrow.
Otherwise they would finish second and face a likely encounter with the All Blacks in Cardiff for a place in the semifinals.
"Our fate is still in our own hands," Traille said.
"We want to be world champions and to do that, we'll have to beat the All Blacks at some stage, so why not in the quarterfinals."
France put themselves in a difficult situation with an upset loss to Argentina in the tournament opener and the 87-10 demolition of a largely amateur Namibia team that followed was of little relevance.
The true test on the road back from their bad start was against Ireland and the French, always an unpredictable bunch, passed it well, winning a bruising contest with authority if not flair.
"It was a tricky match but we never doubted that we would win it," lock Sebastien Chabal said.
Back at the showcase Stade de France, where they had stumbled against Argentina with an error-ridden display two weeks earlier, France were on a mission against Ireland to show they could handle pressure and live up to high expectations.
"We wanted to redeem and reassure ourselves," flanker Yannick Nyanga said.
"By conceding just three points in the whole match, we did that.
"It is not only the result that counts but also the spirit we showed on the pitch. We needed to make clear that what happened against Argentina was an accident."
Julien Bonnaire, who played a key role at No 8 by seizing many balls in the lineouts, pointed out that France still had a long way to go before looking like title contenders.
"It was not difficult to show more than against Argentina because against them we showed nothing at all," he said.
"It was far from perfect. We were still feverish at times but it's definitely looking better."
- REUTERS
