After an immaculate and hopeful group stage, the French XV left the Rugby World Cup prematurely, eliminated by South Africa in the quarter-finals on Sunday.
The weekend’s sports news was dominated by the quarter-finals and the elimination of the French XV from the Rugby World Cup. Each match, played in Saint-Denis and Marseille, was intense and contested. On the positive side, we have to look at the football side. In football, the Blues have secured their place at Euro 2024 and will soon conclude their penultimate meeting of the year.
Rugby: disillusionment for the French XV, eliminated from its World Cup
As soon as serious things had started, France took the door to its own World Cup on Sunday evening. While they led for a long time against the South African title holders, Fabien Galthié’s players lost by a cruel little point (28-29) in the quarter-finals. They failed to capitalize on their good start to the match, shooting themselves in the foot with two errors receiving candles.
Facing the Springboks who were tactically on point, the duel shifted into a second act that was more closed than the first. Jostled in the scrum, the Tricolores suffered more and more as the final whistle got closer. Not much was missed at the finish, but for the third consecutive edition, France was eliminated at the gates of the last four.
Rugby: New Zealand, England and Argentina complete the last four
Before South Africa, the first three places in the semi-finals of the World Cup had already been awarded. The main information lies in the qualification of the All Blacks at the expense of Ireland (28-24), at the top of the world ranking, on Saturday. Despite their defeat in the opening match against France, the New Zealanders did not give in to a Clover XV who were promised the final. Ultimately, the Irish came up against their glass ceiling again, failing at the quarter-final stage for the 8th time in 10 appearances.
New Zealand will face Argentina in the next round. Pumas who obtained their ticket by beating Wales (29-17) on Saturday. Sunday, England fought but did not give up against the eye-catching Fijians (30-24). Less expected than Ireland or France, the XV de la Rose is the last representative of the Northern Hemisphere.
Football: the Blues will see Euro 2024 in Germany
Mission accomplished for Didier Deschamps’ men. The French football team will participate in its 15th major tournament in a row. By dominating the Netherlands (2-1) on Friday, thanks to a double from Kylian Mbappé (now ahead of Michel Platini in the ranking of blue scorers with 42 units), she ensured her qualification for Euro 2024 in Germany. He will have two matches left in November, against Gibraltar and Greece, to finish among the top five in the group. A prerequisite to be seeded in the draw.
Note that Belgium, Portugal, Scotland and Spain have also validated their qualification for the Euro (in addition to Germany, automatically qualified as organizing country). On Tuesday, the Blues have a second match to play, against Scotland in Lille, in a friendly. The opportunity for Didier Deschamps to give playing time to players who did not play four days earlier.