England lead France at halftime
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Wilkinson kicked all of England's points in the first half.
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SPECIAL REPORT
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SYDNEY, Australia (Reuters) -- Jonny Wilkinson landed two drop goals and a brace of penalties to give England a 12-7 lead over France in their World Cup semifinal on Sunday.
France scored the only try of the first half through their blindside flanker Serge Betsen but Wilkinson's boot gave the Six Nations their narrow lead at the break.
With a place in the final against Australia at stake, both teams shows signs of nerves and there was little fluency to the game as the teams struggled to hold on to the ball in difficult wet and windy conditions.
England opened the scoring in the ninth minute when flyhalf Wilkinson potted his first drop goal from right in front but France responded immediately with a try to Betsen.
The blindside flanker won the ball at the back of the lineout and darted through a gap. He was tackled just short of the line but his momemtum carried him over and New Zealand referee Paddy O'Brien raised his arm to award the try after consulting the video official.
Frederic Michalak converted from near the touchline but missed two difficult penalty attempts shortly after as both kickers struggled to adapt to the wind and rain that swept over the Olympic stadium.
Wilkinson missed his first penalty attempt when French winger Christophe Dominici was sin-binned for tripping Jason Robinson but made amends shortly after when he narrowed the gap to 7-6 before putting the European champions back in front.
They regained the lead just before the break when he landed his second drop goal then extended their advantage to five points with a penalty on the stroke of halftime.
Veteran England prop Jason Leonard set a world record for test appearances when he came on for his 112th international early in the match.
Leonard, 35, started the game on the bench but came on in the fifth minute to replace Phil Vickery, who went to the bloodbin.
Leonard's brief appearance saw him take sole ownership of the world record he had previously shared with former French center Philippe Sella.
Leonard, who made his test debut against Argentina in 1990, has also played five tests for the British and Irish Lions, but they do not count in his England total.
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Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
