“The Broken Dream”. On the front page of Le Parisien this morning, the pain of the elimination of the Blues this Sunday evening against South Africa (28-29) was still there. On the side of the foreign media, a little less supporters of the Blues obviously, there was much less pressure to follow this match. Results, they all unanimously congratulated the level of play offered by the two teams at the Stade de France.
The BBC speaks, for example, of “one of the greatest matches in the history of the World Cup”, and sees South Africa “the big favorite” to dominate England in the semi-final. On the side of Guardian, we are pleased that the XV de la Rose is the last representative of the Northern hemisphere, even if “not the best” recognizes the British media. “The quarter-finals saved the best for last” deciphers The Guardian with a match described as “extraordinary” for the French who were knocked out standing at the end of the match “half exhausted, half desperate”.
“All the air of a final”
On the South African side, the Cape Times celebrates a performance “worthy of a world champion” from the Springboks, for a poster which had “all the air of a final”. The daily also regrets the absence of the Blues in the semi-final because of a draw carried out too far in advance of the World Cup. The Citizen also welcomes this “testing victory” in a “hot” Stade de France. According to them, it was the efficiency of the Springboks in important moments and the French difficulties in the aerial game which paid off.
On the French side, the press is also unanimous this morning in being saddened by the fate of our Blues. The “broken dream” of the XV of France is the headline of a very large number of newspapers this Monday morning.
