France have confirmed their status as the team to beat at this year's Wheelchair World Cup after chalking up a 84-40 victory over Australia in Sunday's semi-final in Sheffield.
Having scored an incredible 350 points through their three group stage games and conceding just 27, France took just 34 seconds to get the scoring underway against the Wheelaroos and didn't look back — running in 10 first-half tries to two to book their spot in next Saturday's final in Manchester (AEDT).
France face England in the final after the host nation proved far too strong for Wales in the second semi-final, winning 125-22. France and England have contested the last two Wheelchair World Cup finals in 2013 and 2017, with the French emerging triumphant on both occasions.
Having opened the scoring with just their second touch of the ball through Florian Guttadoro's length-of-the-field effort, it was Jeremy Bourson who stole the first half headlines with an incredible five tries after just 26 minutes of play.
Five for Bourson in commanding performance
As has been the case throughout the tournament, Bourson's speed was causing the Wheelaroos all sorts of issues — steaming through to collect two long-range tries off kicks to take his tournament tally to 15 tries and counting.
Australia would have their moments against the defending champions, Brad Grove collecting a fortuitous bounce off a Bayley McKenna kick to score while Zac Schumacher also touched down after some sharp movement close to the line, but it did little to dent France's momentum as they amassed a 52-10 half-time lead — thanks in part to Mostefa Abassi's eight-minute hat-trick just before the break.
When you get the perfect bounce...
After a free-flowing first half, it was a much more determined performance from the Wheelaroos throughout the second 40 minutes with Diab Karim, Liam Luff and Schumacher all finding their way on to the scoresheet for Australia.
There were still plenty of chances in attack for France, however, with Guttadoro becoming the third player to record his hat-trick for the heavyweights, while Abassi found his way over the line again to add to his personal try haul.
Grove and McKenna combined again to send the Australian skipper over for his second try of the game as Brett Clarke's side continued to fight hard while Craig Cannane also crashed over late to add further respectability to the scoreboard.
Having been comfortably outplayed in the first half, the Wheelaroos will leave the tournament on a high after scoring 30 points against France in the second half — easily the most by any other team at the World Cup so far this year.
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Match Snapshot
- France are looking to secure their third consecutive World Cup title.
- Despite being handily beaten, Australia scored more points against France than any other team in the tournament so far, bettering the 15 points Scotland scored against France in their second pool game.
- Having scored 12 tries in three games so far, Mostefa Abassi bagged a first half hat-trick while Jeremy Bourson scored five tries in the first half.
- Bourson was also heavily involved in Abassi's first try of the game, giving him six direct try involvements through the first 40 minutes of play.
- Three players scored hat-tricks for France (Abassi, Bourson, Guttadoro).
- France came into the contest with a conversion rate of 82 percent but landed just 11 of their 15 attempts (73 percent) — a category they will no doubt be looking to improve on ahead of Saturday's final (AEDT).
Play of the Game
It was a blistering start to the game from France who simply had too much class for Australia. Jeremy Bourson grabbed his second and his side's third try inside the opening 10 minutes after showing incredible speed to collect a perfectly weighted kick in the in-goal — outpacing his teammates to win the race to the ball.
What's Next
France will go in search of a third consecutive World Cup title when they face England in the final in Manchester on Saturday morning (AEDT).