Former Wales head coach Warren Gatland has claimed that France should have beaten the All Blacks in the 2011 Rugby World Cup final, admitting it is an opinion he would never repeat in his native New Zealand.
New Zealand won that final 8–7 at Eden Park on 23 October 2011, the joint-narrowest winning margin in any World Cup final, with South African Craig Joubert as referee.
Gatland, who was born in Hamilton and coached Wales at that tournament, was speaking to Ben Youngs and Dan Cole on the For The Love Of Rugby podcast, in an episode published on 11 November.
‘Harshly done by’
The former Wales boss had been asked which of his World Cup defeats with Wales still hurts the most. He chose 2011, and then turned to the final his side never reached.
“I said this once in New Zealand and I’d never say it down there again,” Gatland said.
“I thought the All Blacks in 2011 were the best team in the World Cup, but I think France should have won the final. I thought they were harshly done by with some refereeing decisions.”
The All Blacks ended a 24-year wait for the trophy that night. France captain Thierry Dusautoir scored his side’s try and was named player of the match in defeat.
Joubert’s handling of the game was criticised at the time, by the French camp and by neutral voices. Former England head coach Sir Clive Woodward later said the referee had cost France the title.
Watching it ‘from a French perspective’
Gatland explained that his view was formed in his own living room, after he had given his tickets away to his Wales captain.
“I had a couple of tickets for the final. I actually gave them to Sam Warburton and his dad to go to the final,” he said.
“I was watching the final at home with my son Bryn and at half-time I said, ‘Bryn, why don’t we look at this game a little bit differently … let’s look at it from a French perspective.’
“And in the second half he said, ‘Oh dad, that should have been a pen against All Blacks.’ And I went, ‘Yeah.'”
A few minutes later, Gatland said, his son wanted New Zealand penalised again, and then their captain Richie McCaw. Each time, he agreed.
The semi-final that got away
Wales had lost 9–8 to the same French side in the semi-final eight days earlier, after Warburton was sent off in the first quarter for a tip tackle on Vincent Clerc.
“I was so confident that I’ve never felt so relaxed in the box in a big game in the first 15 minutes, thinking we’re going to win this game comfortably,” Gatland said.
“And then Sam gets sent off and you lose the game 9–8, and in a game where there’s still opportunities to win it.”
He added of the red card: “When you get millions of people around the world watching a World Cup semi-final, to get sent off like that was pretty harsh.”
Gatland went on to take Wales to another semi-final in 2019. They have not been back since.
Comments
No one has weighed in yet.
Be the first - what did you make of it?