Europa si-a desemnat sambata semifinalistele de la Cupa Mondiala de rugby din Noua Zeelanda. Tara Galilor a trecut de Irlanda, in primul sfert de finala, cu scorul de 22-10, dupa ce galezii au fost in avantaj si la pauza, 10-3. Punctele invingatorilor au venit in urma a trei eseuri, semnate de S Williams, Phillips si Davies. Priestland a transformat de doua ori, iar Halfpenny a marcat dintr-o lovitura de pedeapsa. Irlandezii au egalat pe tabela in debutul partii secunde prin incercarea lui Earls, transformata de O’Gara, insa nu au putut mai mult. Tot O’Gara, din penalitate, marcase si punctele din prima repriza.
Irlanda: 15 Robert Kearney, 14 Tommy Bowe, 13 Brian O’Driscoll (capt), 12 Gordon D’Arcy, 11 Keith Earls, 10 Ronan O’Gara, 9 Conor Murray, 8 Jamie Heaslip, 7 Sean O’Brien, 6 Stephen Ferris, 5 Paul O’Connell, 4 Donncha O’Callaghan, 3 Mike Ross, 2 Rory Best, 1 Cian Healy.
Rezerve: 16 Sean Cronin, 17 Tom Court, 18 Donnacha Ryan, 19 Denis Leamy, 20 Eoin Reddan, 21 Jonathan Sexton, 22 Andrew Trimble.
Tara Galilor: 15 Leigh Halfpenny, 14 George North, 13 Jonathan Davies, 12 Jamie Roberts, 11 Shane Williams, 10 Rhys Priestland, 9 Mike Phillips, 8 Toby Faletau, 7 Sam Warburton (c), 6 Dan Lydiate, 5 Alun-Wyn Jones, 4 Luke Charteris, 3 Adam Jones, 2 Huw Bennett, 1 Gethin Jenkins.
Rezerve: 16 Lloyd Burns, 17 Paul James, 18 Bradley Davies, 19 Ryan Jones, 20 Lloyd Williams, 21 James Hook, 22 Scott Williams.
Anglia – Franta 12-19
Marele duel rugbystic intre cele doua forte a fost transat de Franta, care a condus inca de la pauza cu 16-0. Francezii au dominat marginile si gramezile, marcand prin Clerc, Medard, incercari, dar si prin Yachvili, doua lovituri de pedeapsa si Trinh-Duc, dropgol. Anglia a incercat sa revina in partea secunda a jocului, insa tot ce a putut face a fost sa marcheze doua eseuri, prin Foden si Cueto, una din ele fiind si transformata de Wilkinson.
Anglia: 15 Ben Foden, 14 Chris Ashton, 13 Manu Tuilagi, 12 Toby Flood, 11 Mark Cueto, 10 Jonny Wilkinson, 9 Ben Youngs, 8 Nick Easter, 7 Lewis Moody, 6 Tom Croft, 5 Tom Palmer, 4 Louis Deacon, 3 Dan Cole, 2 Steve Thompson, 1 Matt Stevens.
Rezerve: 16 Dylan Hartley, 17 Alex Corbisiero, 18 Courtney Lawes, 19 Simon Shaw, 20 James Haskell, 21 Richard Wigglesworth, 22 Matt Banahan.
Franta: 15 Maxime Medard, 14 Vincent Clerc, 13 Aurelien Rougerie, 12 Maxime Mermoz, 11 Alexis Palisson, 10 Morgan Parra, 9 Dimitri Yachvili, 8 Imanol Harinordoquy, 7 Julien Bonnaire, 6 Thierry Dusautoir (c), 5 Lionel Nallet, 4 Pascal Pape, 3 Nicolas Mas, 2 William Servat, 1 Jean-Baptiste Poux.
Rezerve: 16 Dimitri Szarzewski, 17 Fabien Barcella, 18 Julien Pierre, 19 Louis Picamoles, 20 Francois Trinh-Duc, 21 David Marty, 22 Cedric Heymans.
