Wales 24-45 France: Second-half dominance sees Les Bleus to bonus-point Six Nations win in Cardiff

A second half performance of dominance saw France to a morale-boosting 45-24 Six Nations Round Four victory over Wales in Cardiff, who remain winless in this year's championship. 

An all-action first half saw the sides trade two tries each, with the lead changing hands five times after scores from wing Rio Dyer and scrum-half Tomos Williams for Wales, and centre Gael Fickou and scrum-half Nolann Le Garrec for France.

Respective fly-halves Sam Costelow (one penalty, two conversions) and Thomas Ramos (two penalties, two conversions) also struck off the tee, to leave France ahead by three at the break.

Wales scored again through centre Joe Roberts to regain the lead, but it was all France from then on, as replacement tighthead Georges-Henri Colombe (on his Test debut), lock Romain Taofifenua and scrum-half Maxime Lucu scored further tries to secure a bonus-point success.

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After Costelow (2) and Ramos (7) traded early penalties under a closed roof in Cardiff, Wales notched the opening try out of nothing, when fleet-footed wing Dyer picked up a loose ball and sped straight up the middle of the pitch through France's defence to score under the posts.

France narrowed the Wales lead back to four points within four minutes via Ramos' boot, when the first scrum of the day saw Les Bleus ominously drive over the top of their Welsh counterparts against the head.

Wales lock Adam Beard did well to force a maul turnover with France putting pressure on in the Wales 22, but within a couple of minutes, France got over for the lead after an attack at pace saw the ball pass through Ramos and Damian Penaud to give Fickou a one-on-one vs Costelow which he was always likely to win.

Ramos converted superbly from the touchline, but Wales were over the try-line themselves almost immediately, as centre Owen Watkin made the telling break, before passing inside for Williams to sprint in untouched under the sticks again - France's defence poor and punished for a second time.

Four minutes after that, France had their second try to regain the lead once more, as after full-back Cameron Winnett was hassled and forced to carry back over his own try-line to hand France a five-metre scrum attack, Le Garrec showed awareness to snipe over by the posts.

No further points came in the remainder of the first period, and just three minutes into the second, Wales were ahead again as Roberts dummied and got over after Williams had just been stopped by a last-ditch Fickou tackle.

What followed was a 20-minute period of virtual total French dominance, but one where they failed to add points as Ramos and debutant centre Nicolas Depoortere were chopped down by the try-line, No 8 Gregory Alldritt saw a try ruled out by the TMO for a knock-on, and scrum dominance close to the Wales try-line failed to be rewarded by ref Luke Pearce when he ultimately penalised France for an early drive.

Instead, France kicked a penalty for points the next time they were within range after a storming Penaud run, and with 15 minutes to go, France finally got the try and lead their pressure merited through powerful prop Colombe from close range.

Five minutes later the match was ended as a contest when Taofifenua charged down Wales scrum-half Gareth Davies, and raced ahead to ground.

Ramos added a further penalty after good breakdown work by Colombe, and there remained just enough time for Lucu to take a lovely Penaud offload for a fifth try in the final play. A score which, quite aptly, came following another scrum attack.

Gatland: We now have to embrace Wooden Spoon challenge vs Italy

Wales head coach Warren Gatland said...

"It's massive for us. You've got to embrace it and not run away from the challenge. I've never done that.

"You can't go into your shell and hide away. There's going to be a lot of external pressure and expectation, and international rugby is always about that.

"We've got to front up, work hard next week and go and give a performance at home.

"Physically, they're [Italy] in pretty good shape in terms of competing at this level.

"It's going to be a challenge for us and massive for them because they'll be thinking that they can finish in their best possible position in the Six Nations with a good performance.

"For us, we definitely don't want to finish at the bottom."

France captain Gregory Alldritt said...

"For us it's always a big game against England. We know that our people always expect a big crunch.

"We are going to a big recovery at the start of the week because it is a short week and then we are going to attack this game.

"England are showing some really good rugby at the moment, really tough defence as well, so it's going to be a big challenge for the forwards.

"We hope to finish with a big performance and a win."

What's next?

Wales face Italy at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff in the final round of the championship on Saturday, March 16 (2.15pm kick-off GMT), looking to avoid a first Wooden Spoon since 2003.

France host England in Lyon on Saturday, March 16 (8pm kick-off GMT) for their final Test of a disappointing 2024 championship.

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