Wales 24 - 45 France

The real France finally stand up, just in time for Le Crunch!

Georges-Henri Colombe was impressive off the bench on debut with a try.

Photo credit: Eurosport

France finally produced a performance commensurate with their potential in this year’s Six Nations as they blew Wales away in the final quarter to build massive momentum for Le Crunch against England in Lyon this weekend.

France trailed on four occasions as defensive lapses stymied their progress but their bench proved to be the difference as the gulf in class and experience was brutally exposed to leave Warren Gatland’s Welsh side facing the prospect of a first wooden spoon since 2003.

Nolann Le Garrec was the official MOTM and he was excellent but I would have gone for the superb Damien Penaud, who recaptured his 2023 form in a devastating display as he made mincemeat of the Welsh defence every time he touched the ball, he was unplayable. Le Garrec’s performance was good for France, but bad for Maxime Lucu, as the latter must surely now be surplus to requirements even though he scored the final try on Sunday.

There was loads of French support in the Principality Stadium and it must have been some atmosphere inside the ground as the sides dished up probably the most entertaining game of the competition thus far.

The sides feel each other out in the opening minutes

France would have felt the pressure of a potential Welsh upset in the build up and they made the worst possible start as debutant Léo Barré didn’t show enough tackle fight in his first carry in international rugby. Tommy Reffell was on hand to win his obligatory jackal penalty which Sam Costelow converted for a 3 - 0 lead to the Welsh.

France restored parity after an excellent spell of play as they kept the ball for 20 phases before being awarded a sitter of a penalty which Thomas Ramos duly converted for 3 - 3.

Two major French defensive lapses lead to two Welsh tries

A couple of uncharacteristic meltdowns on defence by France gifted Wales a foothold in the game as they took full advantage for 14 points. In the 8th minute, France were undone as they watched a bouncing ball instead of staying connected and Rio Dyer couldn’t believe his luck when he saw a huge hole to run into, his speed meant no one could catch him as he strode untouched under the posts.

Fifteen minutes later there was another poor defensive read from the French as a simple inside ball unlocked the line integrity and Tomos Williams was on hand on this occasion to have a walk in after a good linebreak from Owen Watkin.

Fickou instrumental in two French tries to give them the lead

Despite these French defensive errors, Ramos’s boot and Gael Fickou were key to giving France a 20 - 17 half-time lead.

In the 20th minute, with the Welsh scrum under pressure, they then didn’t kick the ball out, allowing France’s big ball carriers to dent their line. First Fickou bounced Owen Watkin unceremoniously, before Manny Meafou (twice) and Uini Atonio made brilliant dominant carries for quick ball on the front foot. Meafou then showed a dexterity to his game which belies his size as his deft ball out the back created space out wide which Fickou exploited with a brilliant finish as he went inside-outside to leave Costelow grasping at thin air and then he ran through and over Dyer on the cross cover for a great France score.

Their second try was far more simple. From yet another dominant scrum on the Welsh 5m line, Fickou was again involved as his crashball drew several defenders and after a great clean, Le Garrec went the same way as he sniped from the base for a clinical try to give France their lead at the break.

Wales come out firing in the second half

The home side regained the lead shortly after the break from their best period of play in the game. They took the ball through several phases, with great ruck speed which the French couldn’t stop and centre Joe Roberts received the ball out wide and nearly butchered a huge overlap, but thankfully for him he wrestled his way over as Wales led 24 - 20. But this was the final score for the Welsh as they wilted under the onslaught from the French reserves in the final quarter.

French bench power shows up Welsh inexperience

In the 52nd minute, France brought on a new front row and Romain Taofifenua in the second row as they looked to up the ante at set piece and it paid huge dividends!

France’s power game came to the fore in the second half. Their scrum was dominant all game and their ball carriers made dominant carries and got great post contact metres throughout. Gregory Alldritt proved a handful as usual.

After a period of pressure close to the Welsh line thanks to scrum dominance and ball carrying, France conceded a silly free kick at the scrum for an early engagement, but then Wales let them off the hook. When they didn’t kick the ball out to take the sting out of the French attack, Les Bleus ran it back with interest. Barré threw an excellent pass to Penaud who got on the outside for the umpteenth time before a couple of strong carries from Flament and Colombe saw Wales infringe and Ramos clawed three points back to make it 24 - 23 to Wales going into the final quarter.

Ten devastating minutes sees the French put Wales to the sword

In the 64th minute, the French backs and forwards combined to devastating effect from a scrum inside their own half. Penaud received the ball on the edge and he was able to beat the first defender (obvs) and before he could be bundled out he threw an inside ball which Le Garrec picked up on the half volley in a supreme bit of skill. After a few slow plays from the pack, Colombe powered over from close range to give France a lead they wouldn’t relinquish again - 30 - 24.

Wales had to chase the game and their naivete showed as they played some high risk rugby in their own half. When reserve scrumhalf Gareth Davies was forced to kick to exit under pressure, Taofifenau was able to charge the ball down on the blindside and then had enough pace and strength to bully Davies in a scramble for the line as France got their bonus point try which Ramos converted from the corner for a 37 - 24 lead.

Romain Taofifenua scores after charging down Gareth Davies to clinch the win.

Photo credit: The Guardian

From a decent French exit off the restart, Dyer ran the ball back - he was excellent with ball in hand on the night - but the Welsh seemed just to be shovelling the ball on in attack without a clear attack plan. From a good French counter-ruck, Colombe showed his skillset by getting a jackal penalty which Ramos slotted to confirm the result as France led 40 - 24 with less than ten minutes to play.

There was still time for one more French try, coming fittingly from a dominant scrum. The French played the blindside well as Lucu finished off a well-worked move, thanks to a great offload and try assist from the irresistible Penaud - 45 - 24 to France as their legions of fans celebrated long and hard inside the Principality and thoughts could turn to a huge fixture with England in the final round this weekend.

Wales are now facing an Italy side who have drawn with France and beaten Scotland in their last two games. Wales need to beat Italy well to avoid the dreaded wooden spoon and on the evidence of the last two rounds, probably go into the match as underdogs in Cardiff!

Wales are in disarray as their lack of depth being exposed in this year’s competition.

Photo credit: Daily Mail