RUGBY WORLD CUP BLOG

England v France player ratings (243)

• Mark Orlovac
• 13 Oct 07, 10:50 PM

Paris - A brand new partnership of me, Orlo, and him, Dirsy, together in one blog.

Here are our player ratings for England's semi-final against France. I have rated England and Dirsy's rated France.

Do you agree? Let us know your thoughts!

ENGLAND:

Jason Robinson – Celebrated his 50th cap with an accomplished performance. Peppered with high balls but dealt with them well. Made a fine jinking run in the second half. 8

Paul Sackey – Did not have many chances to show his speed but helped dump Sebastien Chabal out of bounds as France desperately tried to get back into the game. 6

Mathew Tait – Tackled all night long to shackle the French midfield. Moved to the wing after Josh Lewsey came off injured but still tried to make an impact. 7

Mike Catt – Defensively sound and despite one poor pass to Tait, showed his experience at crucial times. 6

Josh Lewsey – Gave England the perfect start with an opportunist and well-taken try after 82 seconds. Always tried to give England go-forward but came off injured just before half-time. 7

Jonny Wilkinson – What more can you say about him? Not the most accomplished fly-half performance but again he kicked the penalty and drop-goal that sealed victory for England. 7

Andy Gomarsall – Delivered the kick that led to Lewsey’s try but box-kicking lacked direction at times. Defended well to shield a kick through in his own in-goal area. Came off with nine minutes to go. 7

Andrew Sheridan – Did not have the dominance he had against Australia but never took a step back. 7

Mark Regan – Throwing in at the line-out improved as the game went on. Held his own in the scrum before making way for George Chuter with 14 minutes left. 6

Phil Vickery – Had one knock-on but led from the front as always. Was not dominated by Olivier Milloud at scrum-time and made way for Matt Stevens on 56 minutes. 7

Simon Shaw – Typified the England forward effort. Worked his socks off in defence and even managed a nice offload in the tackle. 8

Ben Kay – The 2003 World Cup winner showed all his experience and delivered another hard-working display. Made a superb claim on the floor early in the second half. 7

Martin Corry – When you pick Corry you know what you are going to get. Graft. Always gave his all and put pressure on the French line-out. 7

Lewis Moody – Never stopped working for the England cause. Chased and harried everything that moved. Charged down two clearances and did some great work on the floor before coming off on 54 minutes. 8

Nick Easter – Settled down after some early nerves. Made a good charge-down and delivered a nice pass to keep an attack going in the second half. 7

Replacements:

George Chuter – Replaced Regan with 14 minutes left and was as solid as ever. 6

Matt Stevens – Came on for Vickery with 24 minutes to go and gave two early penalties away but redeemed himself with a juddering hit on Chabal. 6

Lawrence Dallaglio – Received a chorus of boos as he came on with 70 minutes on the clock but had little chance to make an impact. 6

Joe Worsley – Added impetus to England’s defensive effort when coming on with 26 minutes left. Produced a brillaint try-saving tap tackle on Vincent Clerc. 7

Peter Richards – Replaced Gomarsall on 71 minutes and did not have any trouble picking up the pace of the game. 6

Toby Flood – Came on for Catt with 12 minutes remaining. Made a poor decision to go for a drop-goal but did help dump Chabal out of bounds. 6

Dan Hipkiss – Strong and direct after coming on for Lewsey just before the break. Was a real handful for the French midfield. 7

FRANCE:

Damien Traille – Was at fault for England’s first try and his kicking out of hand was mixed. He did, however, make some effective darts into the France back-line. 6

Vincent Clerc – Like Heymans on the opposite wing, rarely received the ball, although he might have scored but for a Worsley tap-tackle. 6

David Marty – Was well shackled by opposite number Tait, had a kick charged down and missed a tackle that almost led to an England try. 4

Yannick Jauzion – Some good carries and big hits and also showed some nice touches, but got very little change out of England’s midfield. 7

Cedric Heymans – Struggled to get into the game and was too ready to kick when perhaps he had other options. Replaced by Dominici on the hour. 5

Lionel Beauxis – The calmest, and best, player on the pitch before he was replaced. Lots of probing kicks, spot-on with his goal-kicking and a couple of half-breaks, but off target with several attempted drop-goals. Replaced by Michalak after 53 minutes. 7

Jean-Baptiste Elissalde – His pin-point passing gave Beauxis all the time in the world to strut his stuff outside him. Also made a couple of good sniping runs on the fringes. 7

Olivier Milloud – More than held his own in the scrum against England’s vaunted front-row and put himself about in the loose. 7

Raphael Ibanez – Hit his jumpers all night and showed some neat touches in open play before being replaced by Szarzewski after 51 minutes. 7

Pieter de Villiers – Like Milloud, matched his opposite number at scrum-time but rarely showed in the loose. 6

Fabien Pelous Solid in the line-out and some good bullocking runs, but too little field time to really impress. Forced off by injury and replaced by Chabal after 25 minutes. 6

Jerome Thion – Made no mistakes at the line-out and well up for the bruising battle up front, but gained few yards in open play. 6

Serge Betsen – Gave a big performance in what could be his last game for Les Bleus. Everywhere in the loose, some big hits and plenty of mongrel with ball in hand. Replaced by Harinordoquy 14 minutes from time. 8

Thierry Dusautoir – Some classy touches with ball in hand, plenty of evasive running and terrier-like at the breakdown, although he faded towards the end. 7

Julien Bonnaire – Was well up for the bruising forward battle but struggled to impose himself at the breakdown. 6

Replacements:

Dimitri Szarzewski – Hit his jumpers after replacing Ibanez and showed some nice touches in open play. Guilty of the high tackle that led to Wilkinson’s late penalty. 6

Sebastian Chabal – A typically bullish display from the France talisman. Always looking for the ball after replacing Pelous and almost scored. 7

Imanol Harinordoquy – Failed to make much of an impact after replacing Betsen and often second best at the breakdown. 5

Frederic Michalak – France lost much of their momentum after Michalak entered the fray. Some poor decision-making and could not match the cool-headed Beauxis. 5

Christophe Dominici – The live-wire winger rarely found himself in space and had little chance to shine. 6

Mark Orlovac is a BBC Sport journalist based in London. He will be based in Paris for the knockout stages of the Rugby World Cup.

• Permalink