Rugby World Cup 2011: Wales on song for biggest game against France

A huge improvement by Warren Gatland's young side since the Six Nations has left them a game away from the World Cup final
Toby Faletau of Wales
Toby Faletau is part of a young Wales side that takes on France in the Rugby World Cup semi-final. Photograph: Alex Livesey/Getty Images

Toby Faletau is a man of very few words, which is why he was presumably the only player in Wales's starting lineup made available to the media on the eve of the semi-final against France. The 20-year-old No8 did reveal, in between pauses, that he listened to Kings of Leon on the day of a match to help him relax, and the American band's album Youth and Young Manhood could serve as a soundtrack to the odyssey of the men in red in New Zealand.

Wales arrived here last month unfancied and almost unnoticed, despite victories over England and Argentina in August. Although they had won three of their matches in the Six Nations, they were a functional side, as the statistics from the tournament showed. Wales kicked more than any other side, made the fewest passes, had the worst ruck clearance percentage, conceded the most penalties and made the fewest visits to an opponent's 22.

They finished the Six Nations with a 28-9 defeat in Paris, struggling after the early loss of the flanker Sam Warburton. The France attack coach, Emile Ntamack, remarked this week that Wales seem a different team from the one he saw in March, and he was not referring only to the infusion of youth that has given players such as Faletau an opportunity.

Wales are a markedly different team. Much has been made of the energy injected by the young players and their lack of fear, not marked by the scars of failure, but what has been most telling is the two training camps Wales had in Poland in July when the players found themselves in a harsh environment and pushed to their limits and beyond, finding unity in adversity.

Wales returned fitter than they had ever been physically and far stronger mentally. It is their conditioning that has marked them out in this tournament and a telling statistic is that they have given away points only once during the final quarter of a match. Francois Hougaard scored a try for South Africa on the opening weekend with 15 minutes to go.

No team has kicked a second-half penalty against Wales, whose average score in the opening 40 minutes is 15-5 compared to 25-4 after the break. That contrasts with 11-10 in the first period in the Six Nations and 10-9.6 in the second. Wales have outscored their opponents in the second half of all their matches in this tournament, something they achieved twice in the Six Nations.

They are formidably tough to play catch-up against it. The Springboks managed it after emptying their bench, fortunate that injuries had restricted the options Warren Gatland, the Wales coach, had in reserve, but what South Africa found in Wellington that evening was that Wales had improved out of all recognition at the breakdown.

Their ruck clearance percentage in the Six Nations was a poor 63%, the lowest of any side. It has been more than 90 in the World Cup, an improvement of virtually 50%. It is down not just to their back row but the enhanced mobility of their tight five: the prop Gethin Jenkins played as important a role at the breakdown against Ireland in the quarter-final as his loose trio, arriving almost immediately a tackle had been made.

Wales are not passing any more than they used to or kicking less, but their decision-making has improved markedly. There is little speculative about their game that is fuelled by a cold calculation personified by Warburton, a captain mature beyond his 23 years. They quickly repair mistakes and every part of their game is functioning close to its optimum: their set pieces are unrecognisable from the back-pedalling scrum and ineffective lineout that made England so dejected in defeat in Cardiff two months ago, they are formidable at the breakdown, their defence yields little and their attack is astutely varied.

They look the best coached team here. Gatland and his management team have got the best out of their charges, tweaking tactics with subtlety every match to stay on the front foot and key players, such as Mike Phillips, Jamie Roberts, Adam Jones and Alun Wyn Jones look not just rejuvenated but the Lions they are. They have to overcome the loss of the fly-half Rhys Priestland, but France will take little comfort at the sight of the Perpignan-bound James Hook at 10.

Wales seem to be in a far better place than France, who have made the last four despite losing two of their pool matches. Les Bleus overcame internal strife to clamber off the floor and knock out England last week, but if Wales look a team, France are more a collection of individuals, moments of inspiration followed by abject lapses in concentration.

It would ordinarily be a straightforward match to predict, but Wales are in unfamiliar territory. Their only other appearance in a World Cup semi-final was back in 1987 when the tournament was not a cash-cow. France, who on Friday made two changes to their bench, have reached the last four for the fifth successive time and if they have tended to follow up a significant victory by going missing the following week, there has been a sense all tournament, despite downbeat media conferences during which Wales have been showered with praise, that they feel touched by destiny.

The first final 24 years ago was between New Zealand and France and when Les Bleus lost to the All Blacks in the pool stage at Eden Park last month the scrum-half Dimitri Yachvili, who has been struggling with injury this week and will not take goal kicks, said after the game that it was better to go down to them in a match that did not matter than in the final.

Wales will be prepared, but will they suffer stage fright on the biggest night of their lives? They have been nerveless so far, soaking up the frenzied media attention this week, but France have been here before and, if experience is to count for anything, they should make that tell. Wales would be worthier opponents for Australia or New Zealand in the final, and with 65,000 watching the game on the big screens at Cardiff's Millennium Stadium, a nation that spent years in the wilderness from the end of the 1980s before being rescued by Graham Henry, the current All Blacks coach, is believing again, and with good reason.

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