The “Black Ferns”, reigning world champions, will meet England in the final next Saturday, victorious over Canada (26-19), which Les Bleues will face for the bronze medal.
The French, qualified for the eighth time in the semi-finals of a World Cup, still failed at the gates of the final, against a team they had just beaten four times in a row.
For this first match between the two nations on New Zealand soil, in a sparse Eden Park, the suspense lasted until the end, with this penalty obtained by the Blues at the last minute but that Caroline Drouin, otherwise impeccable, failed to pass.
“It was a game at stake, we are disappointed, we will have to digest (…) We had a huge heart throughout the competition, we showed it again today. (…) Next week, we will go for this third place”, assured after the meeting the captain Gaëlle Hermet, at the microphone of TF1.
