France and Wales met in Paris knowing that one of them would have their title ambitions snuffed out.
The winners would still have an outside chance of beating both England and Ireland to the title.
France 13 – Wales 20
The home crowd were in fine voice as the band was replaced with a choir for the anthems. They were up on their feet in the fourth minute as France looked to spread the ball from a lineout and exploit space on the opposite touchline. It proved to be a false start as Peyper pulled them back for obstruction.
Wales then launched a series of drives with both Roberts and Wyn Jones carrying a number of times. When Taofifenua was pinged for not supporting his own body weight Leigh Halfpenny stroked over the penalty from straight in front, 3-0 Wales after 7 minutes.
France started with a high tempo but, poor handling and ball security saw them turned over by Wales when they looked to run the ball. The scrum was one area where they were clearly on top in the first quarter. A stutter from Parra, at the base of a scrum in Wales 22, saw Davies bolt out of the defensive line and find himself adjudged offside.
As Lopez was lining up his kick Bastareaud replaced the injured Lamerat who only lasted 17 minutes. Lopez duly converted to tie it up at 3-3.
The Welsh runners continued to batter the French defensive line and Lopez was pulled up for not releasing. Halfpenny obliged from the kicking tee in the 22 to restore their lead 6-3 with ten minutes to the break.
Once again the home crowd erupted as Huget used nice footwork to go over in the corner. The cheers turn to jeers as they realised Peyper had pinged Lopez for a forward pass to Huget. The replays showed the Ref got it spot on.
Big men from both teams made busting runs as first North and then Bastareaud punched holes in the opposition defence but neither team was able to add to their tally and it remained 6-3 at half time.
At the beginning of the second half France decided it was their turn to run big men at the opposition. Again Bastareaud and captain Dusautoir made busting runs. The result a penalty in kicking distance and this time Lopez made no mistake and we were level again at 6-6 after 48 minutes.
Parity lasted only three minutes as Halfpenny converted a penalty awarded when France illegally pulled down a Welsh maul. Wales back in front and that was the signal for France to change their entire front row.
When Basteraud failed to collect a Lopez chip Rhys Webb made a darting run through the heart of a disorganised French defence. The end result was the first try of the game as Biggar touched down in the corner after Lydiate showed beautiful hands to put him clear. The conversion was missed but Wales has a little bit of daylight at 14-6.
Halfpenny then rubbed salt into the French wounds as he stroked over another penalty shortly after the restart. 17-6 with just over 15 minutes to go.
This seemed to spark France into action as their big runners made big gains. Through Antonio and Dusautoir they were able to batter their way into the Welsh 22.
They then spun the ball wide and Dulin slid over in the corner. Lopez added the extras and it was game on at 17-13.
Having been on the receiving end all afternoon the Welsh scrum then decided it was time to give some back to the French pack. They won a penalty in kickable range and Halfpenny snuck his kick just inside the upright. 20-13 approaching the final five minutes.
France finally got their maul working as they went in search of a try to earn a draw. It looked ominous for Wales as they marched forward. When they went wide a crushing tackle from Roberts caused Tales to spill the ball forward and the pressure was relieved. The final whistle was greeted by boos from the home crowd but Wales didn’t care as they’d won 20-13.
The wrap up
France have looked unconvincing for the third game in a row and have only one win. Italy will be on a high after their win in Scotland and will be lying in wait for them next time.
Wales were very impressive and they’ll take great belief from this performance. They’ll feel they’re right back in the hunt and they’ll look to take the second bite at the cherry against Ireland.
[one_half last=”no”]
The Game Changer
Dan Biggar’s try gave Wales that little bit of daylight that they needed on the scoreboard. They exploited the bad organisation in the French defence and Lydiate’s hands to get that pass away to Biggar were just sublime.
This was the one time that the Welsh managed to silence and French crowd and shortly after they were booing their own team.
The score left the French chasing the game and even though they tried to stage a comeback it was too little too later like last week in Dublin.
[/one_half]
[one_half last=”yes”]
The G&GR MOTM
Parra was excellent for the French until he had to go off. It beggars belief that he’s been overlooked for the past 9 months as he’s clearly the outstanding 9 in French rugby.
Wales had many candidates—Biggar scored a try and orchestrated well; Roberts was a willing carrier and made a crucial hit at the death. Faletau made metres and topped the tackle count.
For me though Alun Wyn Jones just shades it to claim the MOTM. He made 8 runs for the hard yards, had four lineout takes and did his fair share of tackling.[/one_half]
The Details
Score & Scorers
[one_half last=”no”]France 13
Tries: Dulin (67)
Conversions: Lopez (68)
Penalties: Lopez (17, 48)
[/one_half]
[one_half last=”yes”]Wales 20
Tries: Biggar (59)
Conversions:
Penalties: Halfpenny (7, 28, 51, 64, 73)
[/one_half][one_half last=”no”]
Cards & citings
None
[/one_half]
[one_half last=”yes”]
Crowd
80,000
[/one_half]
The Teams
France
1. E. Ben Arous, 2. G. Guirado, 3. R. Slimani, 4. R. Taofifenua, 5. Y. Maestri, 6. T. Dusautoir, 7. B. Le Roux, 8. D. Chouly, 9. M. Parra, 10. B. Lopez, 11. S. Guitoune, 12. W. Fofana, 13. R. Lamerat, 14. Y. Huget, 15. B. Dulin.
Reserves: 16. B. Kayser, 17. U. Atonio, 18. V. Debaty, 19. J. Suta, 20. L. Goujon, 21. S. Tillous-Borde, 22. R. Tales, 23. M. Bastareaud.
Wales
1. G. Jenkins, 2. S. Baldwin, 3. S. Lee, 4. L. Charteris, 5. A. Wyn Jones, 6. D. Lydiate, 7. S. Warburton, 8. T. Faletau, 9. R. Webb, 10. D. Biggar, 11. L. Williams, 12. J. Roberts, 13. J. Davies, 14. G. North, 15. L. Halfpenny.
Reserves: 16. R. Hibbard, 17. P. James, 18. A. Jarvis, 19. B. Davies, 20. J. Tipuric, 21. M. Phillips, 22. R. Priestland, 23. S. Williams.
See next page for Bardon’s report on Ireland v. England
