- Title: Wales happy with 'ugly' win - Ball
- Date: 20th October 2019
- Summary: OITA, JAPAN (OCTOBER 20, 2019) (AGENCY POOL) (SOUNDBITE (English) WALES LOCK JAKE BALL SAYING: "Sometimes rugby's just about winning ugly and in all honesty we certainly did that today but we'll take it." WHITE FLASH (SOUNDBITE (English) WALES LOCK JAKE BALL SAYING: "We knew it was going to be a physical encounter against France and they certainly didn't disappoint in that area. Obviously we made it difficult for ourselves in that first half, we showed a lot of character to come back and win that game." WHITE FLASH (SOUNDBITE (English) WALES CENTRE OWEN WATKIN SAYING: "Obviously the French are a great side, it was very challenging but it's just very good to have the opportunity and obviously get the win at the end so we're pleased with that." WHITE FLASH (SOUNDBITE (English) WALES WING JOSH ADAMS SAYING: "I'll have to say to be fair to France it was incredibly physical today, they made it really tough for us, even down to 14 men they were in there, they were resilient in defence and really good over the ball as well so it was one of the physicalest (most physical) games we've played this World Cup for sure, there's a few sore bodies but that's what you expect in knockout rugby so I'm just really thankful that we got that try right at the end to come out with the win." FRANCE WING YOANN HUGET (SOUNDBITE (French) FRANCE WING YOANN HUGET SAYING: "We can come out of this World Cup with our heads high. We fought a good battle, even with 14 men. I think everyone believed it until the end, even when Wales scored the try, we said to ourselves in the locker room that we were able to come back, to go get a penalty or a drop. But unfortunately, it didn't happen." FRANCE WING DAMIAN PENAUD SPEAKING TO JOURNALIST (SOUNDBITE (French) FRANCE WING WING DAMIAN PENAUD, SPEAKING ABOUT THE VAHAAMAHINA RED CARD, SAYING: "I don't think it's Seb's fault. I found that even with 14 men we were able to show a good state of mind. We didn't give up for 80 minutes. We lacked control. We didn't score every time we went to their camp, when I think there was a chance. We left a lot of points on the way and on our ball we lacked control, we made handling mistakes, I was the first one." WHITE FLASH (SOUNDBITE (French) FRANCE FLY HALF CAMILLE LOPEZ, SPEAKING ABOUT THE RED CARD, SAYING: "It's obviously a bad reflex, I think his wires crossed (in his head). After that, I'm not going to speak for him because he's the only one who knows. But that's the way it is, it's part of the game, it's part of the history of rugby. I think that despite that, we had to win this game."
- Embargoed: 3rd November 2019 13:15
- Keywords:
- Location: OITA, JAPAN
- City: OITA, JAPAN
- Country: Japan
- Topics: Rugby Union,Sport
- Reuters ID: LVA001B1WGFUN
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Wales lock Jake Ball admitted his side had an 'ugly' victory against France after they came from behind to win 20-19 in their World Cup quarter-final on Sunday (October 20).
France were reduced to 14 men after Sebastien Vahaamahina was shown a red card for elbowing Welsh flanker Aaron Wainwright in the face early in the second half.
France had led 19-10 at halftime and held their ground until Ross Moriarty's 74th-minute try and subsequent conversion gave Wales their narrow win.
"Sometimes rugby's just about winning ugly and in all honesty we certainly did that today but we'll take it," said Ball.
It was only the third time that France had failed to reach the semi-finals at the World Cup and the French players afterwards refused to blame Vahaamahina for the defeat. - Copyright Holder: POOL (CAN SELL)
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