France edged Wales, 9-8. France will meet New Zealand in Finals.

AUCKLAND, 15 Oct. - Stand-in captain Gethin Jenkins laid the blame for Wales' narrow semi-final defeat to France on the sending off of inspirational skipper Sam Warburton.

Lacklustre Les Bleus battled to a place in the final of Rugby World Cup 2011 with a 9-8 win at Eden Park on Saturday.

After the match, crestfallen prop Gethin Jenkins said Warburton's dismissal had made all the difference.

"It was always going to be tough in the second half. We gave it our all," he said.

"It changed the game when Sam went off, we had to play a different style of rugby. When you are playing the French, they keep it up for the full 80."

Wales coach Warren Gatland said: "He is not a dirty player so what's the point in spoiling a semi-final by giving him a red card? I am absolutely gutted about it.

"But we showed great character and if we'd have slotted a goal we might have won the game. But we were down a man against world-class opposition and the fact we had a chance to win just shows the character of our players. I'm really proud of them."

In command

France captain Thierry Dusautoir admitted his side had not been at their best.

"Today we won thanks to our defence," he said. "We didn't play rugby so well but we played with our heart."

Flanker Warburton, 23, was given his marching orders after 18 minutes for a tip tackle on wing Vincent Clerc.

Until then his team, playing their first semi-final for 24 years, were in command, despite the earlier loss through injury of veteran prop Adam Jones, and well worth their three-point lead.

But after their skipper’s departure they were unable to halt the march of the French, who slowly built an unassailable lead through the boot of Morgan Parra.

Although a try on the hour by scrum half Mike Phillips gave Wales hope, France, playing their fifth successive semi-final, were able to withstand a spirited fightback.

Greasy surface

After a heavy shower shortly before kick-off, handling was difficult and there were several errors in the early minutes.

Wales opened the scoring when James Hook, standing in for injured fly half Rhys Priestland, kicked a penalty from out wide on the left after seven minutes.

Shortly after they lost prop Jones, playing in his 75th Test for his country, to a calf injury. He was replaced by Paul James.

But the scrum held firm and produced a penalty in front of the posts in the 10th minute, only for Hook to slip on the greasy surface in the act of kicking and the ball sailed wide of the posts.

Wales centre Jamie Roberts breached the French defence in the 15th minute but as he crossed the opposition 22-metre line his attempted pass flew into the face of midfield partner Jonathan Davies.

Then Warburton, bidding to lead Wales into their first Rugby World Cup final, saw red and, as the Wales scrum came under pressure, Parra converted a penalty to draw the scores level after 21 minutes.

Missed penalties

The France fly half was on target with another penalty 12 minutes later to give Les Bleus a 6-3 lead at the interval.

After the restart, they attempted to assert themselves but an early drop-goal attempt by Parra went wide.

In the 45th minute Wales replaced Hook, who had missed two penalty attempts, with Stephen Jones, playing his 103rd Test for his country, as they attempted to use his experienced boot to counter France’s numerical advantage.

But a third Parra penalty stretched the deficit to 9-3 and France seemed happy to rest on that slender lead before Wales suddenly struck.

After a determined build-up by his forwards, scrum half Phillips pounced from a breakdown, bursting the tackle and sprinting 20m for a try, which fly half Jones was unable to convert.

Trailing just 9-8, Wales sensed an historic victory and pushed forward again. But their depleted pack was struggling at the lineouts and being squeezed at the breakdown.

Full back Leigh Halfpenny was just inches short with a penalty attempt from the halfway line with only five minutes remaining.

Although Wales desperately tried to get into a position for a drop goal at the death, the France defence held firm.

Source:www.rugbyworldcup.com