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CARDIFF - A desperation not to end their own World Cup on foreign soil spurred France on to one of their most famous and remarkable rugby victories here today.
In a performance at least the equal of their 1999 semifinal comeback to beat the All Blacks at Twickenham, France prevailed 20-18 to advance to a semifinal against England at Paris next weekend.
Almost all pundits were picking that would be an Australia-New Zealand semifinal, but England upset the Wallabies 12-10.
Captain Raphael Ibanez and his French teammates based their triumph around courage, an attribute that was on show when they stood face-to-face with the All Blacks' pre-match haka.
"It was a decision we took two or three days ago, all the players," Ibanez said.
"We weren't trying to indulge in provocation, we have respect for the haka and New Zealand tradition. We wanted to stand proud."
Ibanez said the All Blacks started at a pace that seemed like it would be hard to contain.
"All we had to do was hang on like mad men to stem their wave of attack," Ibanez said.
"In the last quarter of an hour they were less precise. We said to ourselves, `keep putting pressure on them because they are making mistakes'. We obviously hurt them.
"All week people thought it would be a Tri-Nations final so I'm really happy to have France and England in the semifinal."
Ibanez and lock Fabien Pelous both started in the 1999 upset of the All Blacks and could draw parallels.
Pelous' pre-match words came back to haunt the New Zealanders.
"All of rugby was telling us we would lose because the All Blacks are the best team in the world. But I've said before, sometimes they lose, and today they lost," he said.
"We concentrated on defence and in the end we held on. The kicking and territorial occupation were, I think, the key.
"The All Blacks are a superb, superb, superb team. It's sublime."
Pelous, who retires from rugby after the tournament, had a personal motivation in his 117th test.
"I did not want to play my last game in Cardiff. I would prefer to play my last game in Paris - that's my dream," he said.
Coach Bernard Laporte, who was roundly criticised before the game for his selections, played down suggestions that basing his gameplan around kicking was a tactical master stroke.
Instead, he laid the reason for victory at the feet of his players and their never-say-die attitude.
"If tactics won games then rugby would not be the game it is," Laporte said.
"In the first half we didn't play that well, (our) defence was waning. They were walking all over us.
"But the team didn't want to die tonight. I'm very happy about the spirit of my players. It was very tough. They (New Zealand) have been the best team in the world for four years, they were the favourites."
A guiding influence here for France was their defensive coach Dave Ellis, who has worked with England.
He devised special tactics, to be used for this week only, that involved focusing on the ball, not just the player, thereby making it hard for the All Blacks to offload passes and get any momentum that way.
- NZPA
