France too strong in World Cup semi

Both teams come into this fixture with the strange whiff of rugby success adhering to them after their miraculous wins over the world's top two rugby teams. And it all looked so bad a few weeks ago. England's 2003 World Cup semi-final rematch with France in Paris is the first time that teams who had lost in the Pool stage have contested a game at this stage of the tournament. If they were honest, the coaches were not expecting to be still in the World Cup last weekend. England centre Mike Catt had in fact arranged to meet his daughter earlier this week before his side's momentous 12-10 success over Australia in Marseilles last weekend. Who knows what the French had planned. Certainly not going back to their rugby training base at Marcoussis. England and France have played each other so many times that it is difficult to get an edge in such a contest. However, there are some very strong patterns to such fixtures and the two that stand out are England's failure to score a try, and France to be the first team on the scoresheet. We saw over the summer that Bernard Laporte's side protected their whitewash with consummate ease against England, and they went 160 minutes without England scoring a try. Brian Ashton's side were denied by both Australia and South Africa in this World Cup, and there must be a very real possibility that this situation will unfold again in the Stade de France and France at -7 on the handicap is the value with Blue Square. That venue has never been a happy hunting ground for the current World Champions and they are on a four-match losing streak there. France on the other hand love their national stadium. They have a long history of scoring the first try in St Denis and when you consider these words from Martin Johnson, you'll see how important that skill is. The World Cup winning skipper said on Thursday: "England need a good start. If you let the French get away the crowd gets behind them and the waves of French attack start coming and it becomes very difficult. England need to look no further than the first 10 minutes. We need to start the game very well and let the French team know that it's not going to be easy and they'll have to play for 80 minutes for every inch of ground." England have a poor record at starting the first ten minutes "very well" and away from Twickenham they have been like a baby without its comfort blanket. Their glorious victory against Australia was certainly magnificent, but everyone seems to forget that France beat the best team in the world last weekend in Cardiff. That was no mean feat, and so huge was the performance that the stats boys will tell you that it was the second-biggest comeback in World Cup history. Back within the cosy confines of Paris, France should up it a notch, and that should spell doom for the World Champions. Verdict: 1pt France -7 @ 4/5 (Blue Square) (Editor's Note: France will have the backing of a home crowd at Stade de France in Paris and will be spurred on to win the World Cup semi-final. For all the latest rugby prices go to Blue Square!)