England 14 France 9: Wilkinson's nerves of steel help England into final

Champions keep title defence alive as heroics from Ashton's men spell heartbreak for French

Wilkinson kicks a drop goal against France

The Webb Ellis Cup is still nestling in a bed of red roses. England's defence of the trophy they so proudly and memorably won in Australia four years ago reached a new high here last night when they defeated the hosts France in another epic battle. England got home, if that is the correct phrase, by a try, two penalties and a drop goal to three penalties. Quite how they did it, when France were surfing a tide of incredible patriotic fervour in the French capital, is one of life's great mysteries.

Once again, behind a pack that simply refused to buckle, Jonny Wilkinson emerged to haunt the French, just as he had done against the Australians in Marseilles the previous week.

The England stand-off scored nine points to compliment Josh Lewsey's sensational early try and although France hit the front, they could never shake off a quite extraordinary England defence and nor, of course, could they run from Wilkinson's shadow. This is a man who four years ago, in the semi-finals of the World Cup, kicked all England's points in a 24-7 victory en route to winning the World Cup. Next Saturday England return here for another final against either South Africa or Argentina, who play the second semi-final today.

After beating the All Blacks in the quarters, perhaps France thought it could not get any harder. They were wrong. Against an inspired defence, every bit as implacable as the French had been against New Zealand, they came within inches of probably scoring a match-winning try on the hour. A cross-kick to the left from Yannick Jauzion was tapped back by Julien Bonnaire into the hands of Vincent Clerc and he appeared to be clear but an ankle tap by Joe Worsley saved Les Rosbifs' bacon.

England struck a blow, psychological or not, at the first scrum of the match. It collapsed, the advantage was with the Red Rose pack and scrum-half Andy Gomarsall made the most of the situation but even he could not have guessed how rosy the outcome would have been.

From inside his own half, Gomarsall put in a long, rakish kick down the left touchline and although the French full-back Damien Traille appeared to have all the time in the World Cup to deal with it, he fatally hesitated. This gave Josh Lewsey the opportunity to secure possession a couple of metres short of the French line and his momentum and strength took him through Traille's desperate attempt at a tackle.

So within the first minute England were 5-0 ahead and it would have been seven but for Wilkinson's missed conversion. If France were rattled, they did not show it. Beauxis attempted an outrageously long drop-goal and when the ball was deflected it caused England no end of problems just outside their own 22. In the resulting chaos, the French won a penalty from a maul and Beauxis was on target from a very comfortable range to make the tally 3-5.

It was the signal for a period of intense French pressure which was, remarkably, relieved when Mark Regan, of all people, charged down a kick from David Marty. This not only turned defence into attack but resulted in a scrum five for England, who must have been licking their lips. However, the England back row lost control at a crucial stage and France were able to repel the danger.

Both teams opted, primarily, for hoisting balls into the Parisian sky that were almost as high as the Eiffel Tower. It was the intensity of the occasion that got to them and even after only 15 minutes Wilkinson needed water and a breather, and so did many others.

France hit the front after 16 minutes when Andrew Sheridan was controversially penalised for collapsing a scrum two yards inside his own half. Beauxis, with a thunderous strike, dissected the uprights to make it 6-5 and that remained the score at half-time although both sides had chances, mostly from long range, to make a difference.

Martin Corry was guilty of recklessly going over the top of a ruck when England were in a promising position and then Wilkinson failed with a drop-goal attempt from about 40 yards, although only just. The stand-off was also off-target with a penalty attempt from three yards inside his own half. That too did not miss by much but he would have been kicking himself.

As for France, their line-out had been working like clockwork but they lost their former captain Fabien Pelous in the 25th minute and he was replaced by the piratical figure of Sébastien Chabal.

If the first half was intense and frenetic, the second half was doubly so. England, who had been unlucky to lose Lewsey with a leg injury, were also unfortunate at the opening of the second half when Beauxis went for a break, was tackled by his opposite number Wilkinson, and from the ensuing ruck France were presented with a penalty which Beauxis kicked to give France a 9-5 lead after 43 minutes.

In the space of a minute the French stand-off went from ecstasy to agony as his chip ahead went astray and England launched a terrific counter-attack. The French defence were at full stretch to present Mathew Tait from going over in the left-hand corner. Even so, after 46 minutes England had reduced France's lead to a single point when Wilkinson, with his first successful kick of the match, put over a great penalty from close to the left touchline.

As both sides threw everything into the denouement Frédéric Michalak was hopelessly wide with a drop-goal attempt and he continued tomisfire.

Wilkinson did not. The England stand-off hit an upright with a shot at a drop goal before landing the two killer punches in the dying stages – but only after that ricochet had prompted a trademark run from the evergreen Jason Robinson in what could have been his last match of competitive rugby.

After Robinson was tackled high by replacement hooker Dimitri Szarzewski in the 73rd minute, Wilkinson, from almost in front of the posts, landed the penalty to give England a two-point lead, which the No 10 increased to five with a wonderful left-footed drop goal three minute from the end.

A Wilkinson drop goal – how else could it end?

Man for man marking in Paris

ENGLAND

7 Jason Robinson Applauded the crowd on his 50th cap and they applauded him back. Spent his time being strong under the high ball, rather than running, until late on...

6 Paul Sackey Has brushed up on his tackling but would have loved just the one chance to sweep past the French. Still, a solid display.

6 Mathew Tait Defensive work has come on in leaps and bounds at this World Cup, but attack has hardly been seen. Never mind, for now.

6 Mike Catt Mixed bag – some kicks were reasonable, some totally irrational. Gave Tait a whole NHS Trust of a hospital pass, too.

7 Josh Lewsey Ploughed through Damien Traille for the opening try but didn't last the half.

8 Jonny Wilkinson Tackled like the tank of old, including a beauty that did for Fabien Pelous, but his kicking... tanked. And then it didn't.

6 Andy Gomarsall His kick from the base got the bounce that was such a trial for Traille. His kicking game after that was not quite up to standard, but he scrapped well.

7 Andrew Sheridan Pieter de Villiers' technique was meant to cause the bashful behemoth no end of bother. For "technique" read "cheating" and for "bother" read "no real problem". Strong.

6 Mark Regan Trademark sledging is best aimed at the opposition, not the referee. Line-outs misfired too, but at least the scrums were fun.

6 Phil Vickery Good work up front, like his mates in the troglodyte trio, but struggled a little in the loose. Didn't drop his effort, though.

6 Simon Shaw Attempted chip in open play summed up England's first-half kicking, and not in a good way. Much better in the second 40.

6 Ben Kay Runs the line-out, so a first half with more unconvincing slap-downs than a WWE Christmas party won't have pleased him. Like his mates, better after.

6 Martin Corry Bucketloads of hard work, though his bucket-like hands spilled a bit. Battled Bonnaire and stood up when it counted.

6 Lewis Moody Usual boundless enthusiasm and willingness to chuck himself headfirst into the nasties, only Betsen and Dusautoir are just as good. Off relatively early.

6 Nick Easter A very decent effort, driving hard and strong, but he also gave away two three-pointers and lost control at the foot of a rapidly advancing five-metre scrum. About a six, then? Probably.

Replacements

5 George Chuter On for Regan; snarled and scrapped to order.

6 Matt Stevens On for Vickery and straight into some exceptionally good work in tight and loose.

5 Lawrence Dallaglio Rumbled on for Easter for the biggest 10 minutes of a very big career indeed.

7 Joe Worsley On for Moody to make an astonishing tap tackle on Vincent Clerc that saved the game.

5 Peter Richards On for Gomarsall in the final, fraught minutes. Calm.

5 Toby Flood On for Catt with 10 to go. No pressure, then. Did well.

7 Dan Hipkiss On for Lewsey and solidly back to save in the second half. Sharp in attack too. Very good.

FRANCE

6 Damien Traille Got an absolute bitch of a bounce in the second minute, and then Lewsey in the chops. England's kicking, though, let the full-back (pictured) recover well.

6 Vincent Clerc Spent a lot of time tracking back to deal with a succession of slightly aimless England punts. Dealt with them well.

6 David Marty A kick charged down in the first half, hardly another note. Anonymous excellence or just anonymity? Dunno, really.

6 Yannick Jauzion Dangerous because he creates – or might create – things for those about him. Gets a six for that ability, if not any definite evidence of it last night.

6 Cédric Heymans Spent a lot of time tracking back to deal with a succession of slightly aimless England punts. Dealt with them well. Yes, that's the same as Clerc's entry.

6 Lionel Beauxis Kicked superbly from the floor, indifferently from hand in the first 40, and gave way to Michalak in the second half.

7 Jean-Baptiste Elissalde "Le Petit Rat" started with Gomarsall all over him like a pest controller but recovered to make a thorough nuisance of himself. Exterminatedat the end, though.

5 Olivier Milloud Under pressure from Vickery, but held up. Just.

6 Raphaël Ibanez Had a happier time at the line-out than in the scrum, where his head was often shoved towards his hindquarters. Which is never pleasant.

5 Pieter de Villiers Not the dominance he, or at least any journalists taking an ill-advised punt at predicting the propping battle to come, might reasonably have expected. Withdrawn early.

6 Fabien Pelous Strong start from the lantern-jawed lock before a Wilkinson special put his lights out.

6 Jérôme Thion Odd that a former professional basketballer did so little in the line-out. Seems to relish the extra contact, though.

7 Serge Betsen Much more line-out work than usual and just as much tackling and scrapping and stealing.

7 Thierry Dusautoir Carried the ball at England with determination. The "31st man" also did his usual superhuman tackling stint.

7 Julien Bonnaire Hard worker, hard hitter, all-round hard case. Excellent stuff, unlucky to lose.

Replacements

4 Dimitri Szarzewski On for Ibanez; his hit on Robinson lost the game.

5 Jean-Baptiste Poux On for De Villiers and into the van of a maul.

5 Sébastien Chabal Rumbled on for Pelous early. Silly penalty late on.

5 Imanol Harinordoquy On for Betsen towards the end.

5 Frédéric Michalak On to try to prompt something. Anything.

5 Christophe Dominici On for Heymans late-ish.

Clément Poitrenaud Not used.