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| October 26, 2003 | Sunday | Sha’aban 29, 1424 |
France, Wales in quarterfinals: Record romp for Australia
SYDNEY, Oct 25: France and Wales grabbed World Cup quarterfinals spots Saturday, while Australia all but made sure of reaching the last eight with a record romp against Namibia on Saturday.
France outclassed a disappointing Scotland 51-9 in Pool B before 80,000 specators in Sydney’s Olympic Stadium, with Wales proving too savvy for Italy in Canberra winning 27-15 to reach the quarters for the third time in five attempts.
The Wallabies, playing the first ever rugby union international at the Adelaide Oval cricket ground won 142-0, the biggest ever World Cup margin, scoring a record 22 tries in the process.
The French and the Welsh joined New Zealand as the three teams so far assured of quarterfinal berths as the tournament seedings worked out to a tee.
Scotland now must beat Fiji in their last game to keep up their proud record of never having failed to reach the last eight, while Italy head home after becoming the first side to play all four group games.
But they will need a vastly improved performance than against France who comfortably held off a spirited Scottish opening to take control of the match with an awesome five-try performance.
The victory margin bettered France’s previous biggest win over the Scots, a 51-16 triumph in Edinburgh five years ago.
The French now face a probable quarter-final against Ireland and on this evidence will have caused a ripple of fear amongst rivals England, New Zealand and Australia.
Crestfallen Scottish skipper Bryan Redpath said his side had let in too many soft tries and game away too many penalties.
The Welsh, who lost 30-22 to Italy in this year’s Six Nations, won a torrid encounter through their committed defence and superior conversion of attacking chances.
Wales scored three tries to nil to do away with the fraught task of having to beat tournament king-pins New Zealand in Sydney next weekend to claim a quarterfinal spot in the final match in the pool.
The following week Wales are heading for a quarter-final with the other tournament big guns England.
Italy coach John Kirwan said he was proud of his teams’s efforts even though they came up short of their target of reaching the quarter-finals for the first time.
The massacre in Adelaide was just the latest and worst in a succession of blowouts that have scarred the group stages of the competition.
What amounted to a second-string Wallaby XV were queuing up to score tries and if it had been boxing match the referee would have called it off at half-time with the home side already 69-0 up.
Sunday’s action sees England take on Samoa in Melbourne while Ireland take on Argentina in the big Pool A showdown in Adelaide.
Results and tables
(Played, won, drawn, lost, points for, points against, bonus points, total points):
POOL A
Played
Australia 142 Namibia 0
Australia 3 3 0 0 256 16 2 14
Ireland 2 2 0 0 109 24 2 10
Argentina 3 2 0 1 125 41 2 10
Romania 3 0 0 3 28 185 0 0
Namibia 3 0 0 3 21 273 0 0
POOL B
France 51 Scotland 9
France 3 3 0 0 163 56 3 15
Scotland 3 2 0 1 80 77 2 10
Fiji 3 2 0 1 78 92 1 9
US 2 0 0 2 33 58 1 1
Japan 3 0 0 3 53 124 0 0
POOL C
Samoa 2 2 0 0 106 22 2 10
S.Africa 3 2 0 1 124 50 2 10
England 2 2 0 0 109 12 1 9
Uruguay 2 0 0 2 19 132 0 0
Georgia 3 0 0 3 34 176 0 0
POOL D
Wales 27 Italy 15
N. Zealand 3 3 0 0 229 20 3 15
Wales 3 3 0 0 95 45 1 13
Italy 4 2 0 2 77 123 0 8
Canada 3 0 0 3 30 128 1 1
Tonga 3 0 0 3 39 154 1 1
—AFP
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