Wales floor 14-man France to exorcise demons
Substitute Ross Moriarty snatched a late winner as Wales eliminated 14-man France 20-19 in a breathless World Cup quarterfinal to exorcise the ghosts of their 2011 heartbreak.
A moment of madness cost France dearly after lock Sebastien Vahaamahina was sent off for elbowing Aaron Wainwright nine minutes into the second half with his side leading by nine points. Wales, paced by 10 points from flyhalf Dan Biggar’s perfect boot survived a scare against the swashbuckling French, who led until the 74th minute.
Still haunted by the memory of a stinging 9-8 semifinal loss to France eight years ago, the Six Nations champions looked decidedly uncomfortable until Vahaamahina’s rush of blood undid all the hard work the three-time finalists had put in.
“I think the better team lost today, but that red card was obviously significant,” said Wales coach Warren Gatland.
“But credit to the players — I’m really proud of the fact they never gave up and found a way to win. Other teams would have probably capitulated.”
Vahaamahina had stunned the Welsh by bundling over from a lineout after just five minutes before France scored one of the tries of the tournament. Roared on by chants of “Allez, Les Bleus!” flanker Charles Ollivon stormed through to complete a sweeping move involving Virimi Vakatawa, Romain Ntamack and scrumhalf Antoine Dupont.
Back came Wales in an electrifying opening 12 minutes as flanker Wainwright pounced on a loose ruck on halfway to race clear for his first Test try.
But when a high tackle from substitute Ross Moriarty on Gael Fickou resulted in a yellow card, France made Wales pay as Damian Penaud released Vakatawa to grab France’s third try on the half-hour mark.
Wales, who had won seven of their past eight games against France, were still made to work for it in a nail-biting finish.
But just when France looked like holding out for a famous victory, Moriarty popped up after a monster Welsh scrum.
Making up for his earlier indiscretion, the replacement forward bulldozed over six minutes from time before Biggar kicked the conversion that broke French hearts.