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Jauzion doubts England`s cred

Yannick Jauzion is stopped in his tracks

France centre Yannick Jauzion pointed at England's patience and realism as the winning virtues of the world Cup semi-final on Saturday.

Having taken an early opportunist lead with a Josh Lewsey try, England were kept scoreless for the next fifty minutes as France built a 9-5 lead, but then clawed their way back into the game.

A late Jonny Wilkinson penalty and drop goal finally put paid to the French challenge, and Jauzion indicated that it was the willingness to hang in that carried England through.

But he was not convinced that the reigning world champions would become the first team ever to retain their crown.

"The English didn't play all that well either. But they waited," he said to Le Site.

"In this kind of tight game, it is the most realistic team which prevails, not necessarily the team with the most chances, but the one that converts them.

"Last week, we were that team. This time, that went to them.

Bernard Laporte's conservative tactics are likely to be analysed kick by kick in the French press, with France clearly having the better of England out wide, yet persisting with their territorial game which often fell foul of poor execution.

Jauzion explained that it was primarily because the English defended against that tactic so well that his team suffered.

"They turned over a lot of ball to us," he said.

"So we played with the boot, but we did not chase well enough, and we did not win our contests at the breakdowns at those times.

"We have lost two matches in this World Cup against teams who simply shut up shop.

"We have to compromise between the boot and the hand. Last week we did that well, and for fifteen minutes we did it well this week, and got some penalties.

"We could have continued like that, but we didn't have the cleverness, and we reverted back to the restrictive game."

"But England neither surprised nor impressed us. Far from it. They played as we did, just found a little bit more at the breakdowns.

"Maybe we should have opened it up in the second half. But you can't always win the tight matches."

As for England's chances next week, Jauzion was not convinced.

"We should have adapted better to England's challenge. I know this is easy to say in hindsight, but you have to ask if a team can win three such tight matches in a row.

"I am not sure if the English, playing like that, can win next week."

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