Wales denied in Paris

Lionel Nallet scored two of France's three tries as Wales' slim hopes of claiming the RBS Six Nations title were extinguished by a 28-9 defeat in Paris.

Former skipper Nallet touched down either side of half-time and Vincent Clerc added a third score straight after James Hook - whose three penalties were all Wales had to show for their efforts - had been sin-binned for a dangerous tackle.

The result restored French pride after last week's humiliating loss to Italy in Rome and also confirmed England, who were denied a grand slam by Ireland earlier in the day, as this year's Six Nations champions.

France finish second in the table, while Wales, who began the match knowing they required a 27-point victory to snatch the title from England, end up fourth, albeit on the same number of points as France and third-placed Ireland.

Delay

Kick-off had been put back five minutes to allow for French president Nicolas Sarkozy's television address to the nation regarding events in Libya.

When play did get under way, Wales got on the board immediately - Hook landing a penalty from out wide in the second minute to settle any early nerves.

The home pack, however, were keen to assert themselves and soon did so with an impressive driving maul, an attack that eventually ended with Morgan Parra making no mistake when a Welsh infringement handed him the chance to level matters from the kicking tee.

There was little continuity from either side, both Hook and opposite number Francois Trinh-Duc guilty of putting boot to ball too often.

Hook pulled a penalty chance wide on 13 minutes and Wales were dealt another blow when flanker Sam Warburton limped off with an injury to his left knee, Jonathan Thomas coming on to replace him.

France by now were asking plenty of questions of Wales' defence, who - despite the absence from Paris of coach Shaun Edwards for what are understood to be disciplinary reasons - were still coming up with most of the answers at this stage.

Parra edged the hosts in front for the first time on 25 minutes with his second penalty and shortly afterwards it needed a superb ankle tap from Trinh-Duc to keep the lead intact.

Full-back Lee Byrne unleashed Leigh Halfpenny down the right sideline and the winger looked to be heading for the whitewash until Trinh-Duc scrambled across to save the day.

And Wales were made to pay just before half-time when a turnover led directly to the game's opening try for France.

Nallet powered over from 30 metres out, grounding the ball after bouncing off Jonathan Davies' last-ditch tackle.

Parra, who had missed a penalty chance just before the try, was also off-target with the conversion attempt to leave France 11-3 ahead at the break.

Gift

Hook gave Wales hope with a penalty early in the second half but the stand-off was soon guilty of gifting France their second try.

His attempted clearance was charged down by Julien Pierre, who offloaded for his second-row partner Nallet to touch down for the second time.

Parra rediscovered his range with the conversion to pad France's advantage to 18-6.

An exchange of penalties between Hook and Parra made it 21-9 before the officials made a decisive intervention.

Hook was shown the yellow card by referee Craig Joubert, who - acting on the advice of his touch judge - deemed the Wales stand-off guilty of a dangerous tackle. Replays suggested it was a harsh call, Hook having lifted Parra off the floor before easing him back to the ground rather than simply dropping him.

The extra man told immediately, Clerc added France's third try by collecting Trinh-Duc's chip over the onrushing defence.

Wales almost kept things interesting when, after a breakout against the run-of-play, Davies was stopped just short of the posts and France were able to prevent the ball being recycled quickly with plenty of red shirts waiting out wide.

Clerc was denied a second try of his own when his dive for the right corner saw him stopped just short and France then comfortably ran the clock down as La Marseillaise rang out around a contented Stade de France.