France dominated Wales at the end of a thrilling and closely contested match (45-24), won thanks to a perfectly controlled end to the match, this Sunday March 10 at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff. The Blues are relaunching in the Tournament and will face England on the last day, March 16.
4 mins
It was a match to get back on track, and the Blues were able to rise to the occasion perfectly. In a gloomy Six Nations Tournament where they were until now lacking in confidence after their unexpected draw against Italy, their resounding victory against Wales (45-24) in their Cardiff lair will undoubtedly do them a lot of good for their morale.
Anxious to start the match in the best possible way, the Blues nevertheless conceded an entry penalty (2nd, 3-0) following a disagreement between Le Garrec, started for the first time, and Barré, newcomer to the XV of France. Fabien Galthié’s players in turn obtained a penalty in the following minutes, picking up the score thanks to Ramos (7th, 3-3). But after resisting well against the Welsh offensives, they were then surprised by Rio Dyer, recovering from a ground ball before slipping between the French defenders to score the first try of the match (10th, 10-3).
Not completely calm during this first quarter of an hour, the French team grabbed other points on a new penalty converted by Ramos (15th, 10-6), following a good French scrum. She then accelerated to get a try in her turn, scored by Fickou who was well served at the end of the line (23rd, 10-13). The Blues finally took the lead again in this meeting which did not suggest any downtime.
Not for very long, however, since the Welsh once again found the fault in the French defense on a full axis breakthrough from Williams (26th, 17-13). France immediately went on the attack again in this hellish scoring battle, taking back control of the match with the first international try from rookie Le Garrec (30th, 17-20).
Highly visible, the latter then produced a superb chistera which almost allowed Bielle-Biarrey and Depoortere to approach dangerously the Welsh line (33rd). The Welsh were not to be outdone, undermining a French defense narrowly saved by a forward from Wainright (35th). With two tries scored on each side during this breathtaking first period, the rest of the match promised to be just as competitive.
Domination achieved at the end of the match
The Welsh continued to exploit the disorder in the French defense by launching their second half with an immediate try from Roberts in the center (44th, 24-20). The Blues attacked again during a long sequence of possession, initially coming up against a solid Welsh block before Grégory Alldritt flattened in the Welsh camp (56th). But his try was then canceled by the referee, judging that the Frenchman lost control of the ball during the action.
Very close to the try after another scrum near the line, the Blues were penalized for an early entry which gave the ball back to Wales. But Penaud quickly put his team back within 22 meters after a nice breakthrough, allowing the Blues to come back to within a very small point of their opponents on a penalty (61st, 24-23). In full domination, they then advanced well thanks to Penaud and Barré, unleashed on the right wing, before concluding with a third try scored by Colombe (66th, 24-30).
After a ball snatched by the Welsh, Bielle-Biarrey distinguished himself with an offensive tackle which resulted in a counter from Romain Taofifenua on Davies, leaving him free to go and obtain the offensive bonus try (70th, 24- 37). At the scratch, Colombe then snatched a penalty to put the Blues a little more sheltered at the end of the match (74th, 24-40). Maxime Lucu then completed the great success of the French by scoring a final try in the last seconds of the match (80th + 1, 24-45). Often pushed around during this edition of the Six Nations, France won its first convincing victory against Wales and is now firmly awaiting England, whom it will face on March 16.