France in repeat win over England

LONDON, England -- France scored their second win over England in as many weeks with a 22-9 win in a World Cup warm-up match at the Velodrome stadium on Saturday.

A second-half try by center Yannick Jauzion converted by scrumhalf Jean-Baptise Elissalde, four penalties by Elissalde and one from flyhalf Frederic Michalak rewarded a powerful display from the World Cup hosts.

Defending champions England, who trailed France 12-3 after a tight first half, had to be content with three Jonny Wilkinson penalties and have now lost 15 of their last 16 away matches.

Too add to their woes, England captain Phil Vickery was stretchered off just before half-time with concussion.

"We played well enough in the first 15 minutes but then we started giving away penalties and we had a man (Simon Shaw) sin-binned. If you put all that together there is no way you are going to beat France in Marseille," England coach Brian Ashton said after the bruising encounter.

"Last week there was anger in the dressing room (after a 21-15 defeat by France at Twickenham) because the players felt they should have won that game but this time there is disappointment because they realise they did not play enough to win."

Although England escaped without any serious injury, they did nothing to suggest they had a serious chance of retaining their title at the World Cup starting in France on September 7.

"Phil Vickery is concussed, Martin Corry has a bent knee and Shaun Perry has a dead leg but all will be fit for the World Cup", Ashton said.

While England had dominated in the scrums and lineouts at Twickenham, they could put France under pressure only for the first 20 minutes in Marseille and then let the hosts take control in every area of the game.

"My biggest disappointment is that the basics of our game, which went well against Wales and against France at Twickenham, did not go nearly as well today," Ashton said.

"Our job now is to work hard to make sure we get it right at the World Cup."

France, by contrast, were in confident mood after beating their arch-rivals for the second time in as many weeks.

"When you play England it's always going to be a challenge and we lived up to it", said France captain Raphael Ibanez.

"That's not our problem," the Wasps hooker said when asked whether he thought England could still win the World Cup.

"We know what we want and the only thing we're interested in is the way we play."

France, who had suffered in the scrums and lineouts at Twickenham last week, were clearly on top this time although flashes of brilliance were scarce in a tense, bruising encounter.

Saturday's match was England's last before they begin the defense of their title against the United States on September 8.

France will play Wales in Cardiff next week before facing Argentina in the World Cup opener on September 7.

Wilkinson and Elissalde traded early penalties and missed one each in the first 20 minutes with France resisting under sustained pressure from their visitors.

The hosts, however, gradually grew more confident and although clumsy handling hampered their march forward, they still took control with two more Elissalde penalties to lead 9-3 shortly after the half-hour.

The match was rough throughout the first half and England paid dearly for an ugly scene shortly before the break, when three players tried to bring down powerful center Damien Traille.

As a result, lock Simon Shaw was yellow-carded for a high tackle, Vickery was stretchered off and France were awarded a penalty which Elissalde converted to give them a 12-3 lead at halftime.

Wilkinson reduced the arrears from a penalty early in the second half, with Matt Stevens coming on for Vickery.

With England still down to 14, France then turned on the style and an apparent Yannick Nyanga try was disallowed from video evidence then Jauzion scored a valid one from an astute Michalak pass. Elissalde converted it to give France a 19-6 lead on 48 minutes.

A penalty each from Wilkinson and Michalak, starting his first match for France after a series of knee injuries, was all the Velodrome crowd saw after that but it did not stop them from joyfully singing the French anthem, the Marseillaise.

There was a standing ovation for lock Fabien Pelous, who won his 112th cap, breaking Philippe Sella's national record, when he was substituted in the second half.

Ibanez also earned a line in the record books by playing his 92nd match for his country to join former New Zealand captain Sean Fitzpatrick as world rugby's most-capped hooker.

In other action on Saturday, Wales withstood a late rally from Argentina to claim a morale-boosting 24-20 win over Argentina in a World Cup warm-up game at the Millenium Stadium.

Wales raced into a 24-7 lead at half-time with tries from captain Gareth Thomas, Alun-Wyn Jones and Mark Jones before the Pumas hit back.

Winger Ignacio Corleto, who had opened the scoring for Argentina with an intercept try inside four minutes, added a second and Federicho Todeschini's boot dragged the Pumas to within a converted try.

Wales were forced into some desperate defense in the closing minutes and Thomas wheeled away in despair when Martin Durand ploughed over the line with time up.

But the television replay showed the Argentina forward had spilled the ball forward as he tried to ground it and Wales had survived to claim a win that takes a little of the pressure off head coach Gareth Jenkins.

He had been fiercely criticized after his side's record 62-5 defeat to England at Twickenham a fortnight ago and was delighted with the victory.

"We proved we can be a competitive team," he said.

"It was a hard afternoon. Credit to Argentina for their performance in the last half hour and it was close in the end. "But I was delighted with our approach, especially in the first half. That was the win we were looking for."

Despite 11 defeats in 14 Tests, Jenkins maintains Wales are capable of reaching the semifinals of next month's World Cup in France and his captain Thomas is also in defiant mood.

"It has been a really tough fortnight and we have taken a lot of flak," he said.

"This is ideal preparation for the World Cup with this victory. We back each other as a team. Anyone who wants to throw mud at us shouldn't bother," added the Cardiff star.

In a third World Cup warm-up game on Saturday, Italy beat Japan 36-12 in Rome. E-mail to a friend