14 July 1979 – Bastille Day.
France triumphed over the All Blacks in Eden Park, Auckland by 19-24 for their first ever victory in New Zealand. Although they had played fixtures since 1906, France had never conquered the All Blacks on their turf until this auspicious day. Games against the All Blacks and South Africa were always referred to by French commentators as Fiasco aux Antipodes. Continue reading
Our survey says: ER-ERRRRRR
History
Le Crunch is the game traditionally considered as the top draw of the Six Nations, despite the fact hat over much of the last decade, it has not been the case. Similarly, despite England’s recent woes in that tournament (this year being their first Championship win since their 2003 team preceded their World Cup victory with a Grand Slam) England have a very decent record against France of late, losing only one of the last five head-to-heads. Continue reading
Aurelien Rougerie apparently dislocated his shoulder against the fierce Tongans. That has been more or less overlooked in the welter of criticism that the French shipped over their surprise loss. Continue reading
Tonga put a beating on France that wasn’t reflected in the final scoreline. Vincent Clerc dotted down in the last minute of the game to put a bit of a gloss on what was a horrific defeat for a French team utterly lacking in heart and direction. Continue reading
The sorry end to a career of great service to French rugby
The Mole enjoyed a very good article on ESPN Scrum.com by Ian Moriarty about Marc Lievremont and his appalling relationship with the media/his players/the French public. Continue reading
That'll teach you to ferment revolt on foreign shores
Marc Lievremont has crushed the rising at source, dropping noted dissident Damien Traille for the clash with Tonga.
Damien Traille looses his musket in the direction of Marc Lievremont
Have the first blows of a revolution in the French camp been struck? Damien Traille, one of the elder statesmen in the French squad at 32 years old and with 85 test caps to his name, has openly expressed his anger and disappointment with Marc Lievremont in the wake of the heavy loss the French suffered at the hands of New Zealand. Continue reading
Couldn't pick his nose
This was a poor, disjointed and very disappointing match. As unlikely as it may have seemed, everything that Peter Bilge blustered about came to pass. Continue reading
If you’d backed the underdog on the handicap so far in this tournament, you’d have done well. There are generally few surprising results in RWC games but a gradual levelling of standards has led to closer games. Japan were only four points down at one stage in the second half and got the crowd right behind them. France pulled away towards the end but failed to convince for long periods of the game. Continue reading
Digging Like a Demented Mole 