England lead against France at halftime

11.00pm

ENGLAND 12 FRANCE 7

The clockwork boot of Jonny Wilkinson has England just
ahead of France after a scrappy first half in their Rugby World Cup semi-final tonight.

Both sides struggled to string phases together and made
plenty of mistakes in intermittent rain at Sydney's Telstra Stadium, with France scoring the only try of the half from an error in the 10th minute.

England overthrew a lineout on their own 22m and French
blindside flanker Serge Betsen grabbed the ball and dashed to the line.

With first five Frederic Michalak converting from the
sideline it gave France a 7-3 lead after Wilkinson had
earlier opened the scoring with a drop goal.

The score remained unchanged until mid-way through the half when French winger Christophe Dominici was yellow carded for sticking out his leg to trip English opposite Jason Robinson as he stepped inside him.

With a one-man overlap England started to build some
momentum and closed the gap to 7-6 with a Wilkinson penalty in the 29th minute.

They then hit the front just before the break with another penalty and drop goal from Wilkinson.

The winner of the match will meet defending champions Australia in the final on Saturday.

The loser will play the All Blacks to decide the third and fourth finishers. Australia beat New Zealand 22-10 in their semi-final clash last night.

England 12 (Jonny Wilkinson 2 pen 2 DG)

France 7 (Serge Betsen ;Frederic Michalak 1 con)

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