Match winner: George North
Wales ended an eight-game losing streak with a hard-fought 16-6 victory over an uninspired French side at the Stade de France on Saturday.
A solitary late try from wing George North handed Wales the spoils in a dour game that culminated to the sound of boos and whistles from the Parisian crowd.
The result leaves pre-tournament favourites France rooted to the bottom on the Six Nations Championship standings after their shock loss to Italy last week.
'Crisis' might be too harsh a term to define the French situation at the moment, but all is clearly not well in Philippe Saint-André's camp. Most worrying was the lack of intensity and commitment in the French defence in the last quarter, when the game was still there for the taking.
The pressure was evident in what was a must-win game for both sides, as the fear of failure seemed to dominate the attacking spirit that has served these teams so well in the past.
A first-half characterised by conservative tactics and wasted opportunities on both ends came to a close with the scores locked at 3-3 and the spectators voicing their displeasure.
Wales had enjoyed the lion's share of possession but the French came closest to crossing whitewash, only to fluff two great chances with poor decision making. The only thing worse than the quality of the spectacle was the state of the playing surface which, was once again, took a beating at every scrum.
The French half-back duo of Frederic Michalak and Maxime Machenaud came under heavy fire for their showing in Rome last week and they did their chances of being selected for next week's trip to Twichenham no good with some poor passes and options while full-back Yoann Huget failed to offload to frustrated wing Wesley Fofana on his outside with the tryline begging.
Wales started the second half well though and Leigh Halfpenny was able to give the visitors the lead with his second penalty.
The home crowd howled when Francois Trinh-Duc - playing at full-back after coming on for wing Benjamin Fall at the break - missed an easy drop goal when France were camped on the Welsh line.
Michalak drew the hosts level with a penalty (against the Welsh scrum) with half-an-hour left on the clock.
The hosts' scrum had become their primary weapon but it couldn't help them when Dan Biggar chipped over the top for North, who did brilliantly to evade the touchline and score in the corner in the 71st minute.
A long-range penalty from Halfpenny in the dying moments sealed the deal to leave France with plenty to think about.
Man of the match: Not many stand-out performers but Leigh Halfpenny was very solid, making very few errors and landing crucial kicks.
Moment of the match: There was only one. North's try was the game changer and a rare highlight.
Villain of the match: No nasty stuff, but if you're French, a guy called Philippe won't be on your Christmas card list right now.
The scorers:
For France:
Pens: Michalak 2
For Wales:
Try: North
Con: Halfpenny
Pens: Halfpenny 3
France: 15 Yoann Huget, 14 Wesley Fofana, 13 Mathieu Bastareaud, 12 Maxime Mermoz, 11 Benjamin Fall, 10 Frederic Michalak, 9 Maxime Machenaud, 8 Louis Picamoles, 7 Fulgence Ouedraogo, 6 Thierry Dusautoir, 5 Yoann Maestri, 4 Jocelino Suta, 3 Nicolas Mas, 2 Dimitri Szarzewski, 1 Yannick Forestier
Replacements: 16 Benjamin Kayser, 17 Vincent Debaty, 18 Luc Ducalcon, 19 Romain Taofifenua, 20 Damien Chouly, 21 Morgan Parra, 22 Francois Trinh-Duc, 23 Florian Fritz.
Wales: 15 Leigh Halfpenny, 14 Alex Cuthbert, 13 Jonathan Davies, 12 Jamie Roberts, 11 George North, 10 Dan Biggar, 9 Mike Phillips, 8 Toby Faletau, 7 Justin Tipuric, 6 Ryan Jones (c), 5 Ian Evans, 4 Andrew Coombs, 3 Adam Jones, 2 Richard Hibbard, 1 Gethin Jenkins.
Replacements: 16 Ken Owens, 17 Paul James, 18 Craig Mitchell, 19 Lou Reed, 20 Aaron Shingler, 21 Lloyd Williams, 22 James Hook, 23 Scott Williams.
Venue: Stade de France, St. Denis (Paris)
Referee: George Clancy (Ireland)
Assistant referees: Alain Rolland (Ireland), Francisco Pastrana (Argentina)
Television match official: Giulio De Santis (Italy)
By Ross Hastie
Comments
melkdave says...
@Jontheref
Ive never said im welsh,just that Wales are my 2nd UK team.Also how can pointing out how bad France where,compard to the aurtum,be constrained as anti welsh as you seem to suggest ?? Did i say Wales played badly NO,they played better than France by along way and deserved the victory.Did you also miss the part of my 1st post where i said "Hopefully this win will revitalise and galvanise Wales" looks like it.I also gave my opinion on how France might play better,and say that England ,Ireland and Scotland should watch out ,as France will be shamed and humilated by the press /media and fans .So a backlash is to be expected..Also ask yourself why do i want a revitalised Wales and France ,when my prefered team England havent played them yet.Because i love the game ,and want to watch close exciting tension filled matches.How any of this is anti any country or fans is baffaling,but you seem to think it is somehow.As ive said before i support England against all,,then Wales against all except England ,then any UK team over any others.Whats wrong with that ,Im proud to be english,have welsh heritage from my mother and to be british.I think you should stop obsessing over what i post ,and just post your opinions as i do ,everyones opinion is valid in my eyes,even if i think its wrong.As to 2nd post that was to answer a question asked by @KiwiRooster.
Posted 09:43 10th February 2013
Rosbif says...
What to say? Where to start? Seems the FFR's and LNR's attitude to developing the national team is about the same as the Stade de France groundsman's attitude to preparing a pitch....
Until the governing bodies change the set-up, we should not consider France as a "national" team but as a "BaBas" team. Good individuals that meet up in the bus on the way to the ground and who don't really have a coach...
Most people watching HCup or T14 in the autumn commented on the good form of many French teams. When you start your season in July, it's logical that you are finding some rhythm in Sept, especially against Pro12 sides that are still in pre-season. But now we can all see what happens come Feb-Mar-Apr... and remember there is a 3-test NZ tour to come in June (with the first test starting the week after the T14 final, so no time for jet-lag, let alone prep time together...unless you count playstation on the Airbus?)
There are 3 obvious consequences to the current T14 money machine.
1. Physical ball-carrying forwards are being overplayed by their clubs (Picamoles, Szarzewski, Maestri etc have played 20+ games already after a 2-week summer vacation) and have no gas left at all. Compare this in particular to the Irish ball carriers (Healy, SOB, Heaslip etc)...
2. Plenty more are playing with injuries or being rushed back into action too soon after injury (Dusautoir, Ouedraogo, Pape, Domingo)
3. Picking a Fra team from 14 sides that are packed with foreigners in key positions (especially 10) means that you lack any club combinations at 10-12-13, or 8-9-10, or 11-14-15. Italy and Scotland, mainly poor in the Hcup and Pro12, can put out national teams that look like they have played together before.
As a lifelong France supporter I am tired of hoping for change, disappointed with the waste of talent, and disgusted by the money.
P.S. Well played Wales!
Posted 09:41 10th February 2013
kybone says...
I have to say that this was the worst 6N game for a long time. Two teams that are just rubbish at the moment. Some pretty good defending to be fair, but the complete lack of creativity from both teams was embarrassing at times. The Welsh ought not to get too carried away by this result as this was one of those games where the winning team won because they weren't quite as bad as the losing team. As for France, if they can play like that again in 2 weeks time i'll be happy with that.
Posted 09:35 10th February 2013
Sirjona says...
All of you naysayers, misery vampires and end of the the world merchants kiss my arse. As I predicted the Welsh team are not done for and will now proceed to win the championship.
Posted 09:00 10th February 2013
RobinMasters says...
By far the poorest game by the French in a long, long time...
Are these slow, naive, uninspired (unconcerned?) dummies the best players in this country?
Please give way for hungrier, faster, smarter players who are eager to shine in the French XV, rid us of this bunch of stars, they obviously don't make up a team.
On top of that, someone explain to me why PSA insists on wasting talents such as Fofana or Trin Duc at the wrong place...
Is he aiming at the Wooden Spoon? If so, let him carry on.
Posted 08:29 10th February 2013
choky says...
pls read well argentina got destroyed by ireland
Posted 08:25 10th February 2013
choky says...
probably one of the worst french team i have ever seen - we also must world champions of bad coaches - psa is unfo as bad as lievremont was -
i posted a mail after the november tour stating that frech results were quite overated in my opinion - we just beat an out of form australia who hardly beat italy and a argentinian side who got destroyed by argentina - as for the game agnst samoas i think we got lucky to win - it is hard to even think that france can win in ireland and england so only victory agnst scotland (which far frm being sure) can avoid to end up with inly defeats - personally i almost hope that we end up with 3 more defeats in hope that in this case something will really change in french rugby - unfo even if we end up with 5 defeats i dot think it will -
Posted 08:24 10th February 2013
jonesrp says...
If England cop it from France this season then they`ll know how us AB supporters feel..
France week in, week out ,can be terrible but I would never,ever, write them off...
Posted 07:04 10th February 2013
sharkie says...
Yesterday was just a good day!! Italy lose, France lose. What more can a man wish for on a snowy Saturday afternoon. One more week en S15 will start , at least you will have had your shot of rugby before finishing breakfast. O ja, good on howley, he man is too sympathetic to lose so many games in a row.
Posted 06:40 10th February 2013
J_HDK says...
Dear PSA, ... keep up the good work.. (at least until after the Ireland game). And whatever you do; don't let Michalak out of the starting XV or off the pitch during the match no matter what he does, he is clearly the future of French rugby and must be kept in the team at all costs in preparation for the next world cup.
Posted 04:03 10th February 2013
Noshonmescrote says...
FOR SHAME!!!
Posted 02:35 10th February 2013
TVaddict says...
Can no one else do grass? Please hire some English groundsmen to maintain your pitches because they are not in acceptable conditions!
Another dire game from both teams with Wales being the least worse rather than being better. Breakdown again not refereed, though not a surprise with Clancy as ref. Lots of handling errors, no interesting lines run, just bosh bosh bosh from both teams. In terms of the performance both teams lost, so both have a lot to work on.
Is it me or does the French team look like they've all just met? I've seen Barbarian teams with more organisation. Surely now Parra will start, Michalak will be dropped, Fofana brought in at inside centre, and an actual fullback picked at 15?
Wales had some great performers in Roberts, Jenkins, Halfpenny and Jones who really carried the team. The same can't be said of everyone. Adams Jones scrummaging style looked like it was out of a fire safety leaflet with his 'stop', 'drop' and 'roll', amazed he didn't get a card by the end of it. Phillips seemed determined to never pass the ball, so when he finally got round to it the defence were already up. The decision making in attack was also awful, only made less obvious by France making even more awful decisions.
All in all, a bad game for neutrals, bad game for the French, and for the Welsh the positive of a victory but nothing more. Let's hope tomorrow is at least entertaining rugby!
Posted 02:24 10th February 2013
PREEST says...
This is the kind of Northern hemisphere rugby I am used to...Thought it was kunf of a thing of the past...
Woulf actually consider putting money on France going winless and taking the wooden spoon.
Here's hoping the Ireland v England game is a spectacle. It is Ireland or England that will win the 6 nations, and this game is game will decide that in my view. They are the only two side playing good mature rugby.
Posted 02:03 10th February 2013
Iyhel says...
Okay, I'll eat my words from last week and admit it: as a French supporter this tournament is over for me. Only saw the first half but I could guess the outcome, with so many occasions butchered there would be no miracle. I blamed the players for last week's defeat but I think this one is for the coach. And I can say I'm optimistic for the months and years to come.
In some way, at least, I'm happy for Liévremont: in 4 years this amateur brought us a series win in New Zealand, a Grand Slam and came 2 points short of committing one of the greatest sport robbery of all times - and one that would have been fully deserved in the day. He discovered Parra, Trin-Dhuc and Picamoles.
I wonder what we'll remember from the oh so professional PSA in three years time...
Oh and how can we go from near perfect refeering one week to such awful displays the next?
Posted 01:04 10th February 2013
rukrym says...
Perhaps one of the French PR readers could tell me if Rougerie is out injured? I'm surprised PSA hasn't opted for the midfield combination of Rougerie and Fofana that's been so effective for les jaunards. By far the most lethal centre partnership in Europe. Having Bastereaud in the centre provides some good go forward ball but aside from that I don't see him offering much in attack.
For that matter Parra should be starting at 9 and Medard at fullback, Malzieu on the wing. It always baffles me whenever a French coach makes such poor selection calls when you consider the wealth of world class players they have...
The editor says.... Rougerie started for Clermont on Friday.
Posted 23:56 09th February 2013
dangerous says...
Super rugbys starting up soon... And apart from that I'm painting walls and watching them dry.
Posted 23:42 09th February 2013
jontheref says...
Well predictable posts, from the predictable!
Poor game?
I thnknot!
Exciting YES!
If you didn't thnk so.
Go back to sleep!
Poor decisions on both sides!
crap ref decisions, but the players seem to acept it.
Michelak could have been carded twice, once when Wales would have had a Pentry, but that is the game.
Scrum and breakdown PK'S?
Lottery, throws it open!
melkdave,
So you aren't Welsh now?
BTW, posting twice, doesn't mean your right!
Ireand for the Grand Slam, Wales 2nd!
Posted 23:40 09th February 2013
neilfromire says...
How poor was Phillips? I've never been his greatest fan (Irish after all), but really getting tired of his aimless box kicks, his slow looping passes which hit behind his man and his poor decision making when taking ball into contact. Shadow of the player he possibly once was. Thought Lloyd Williams changed the game in the last two matches when he came on.
Posted 23:33 09th February 2013
atg77 says...
Painfully boring to watch, one-dimentional battering ram Welsh are a shadow of the exciting side that won the six nations in 05 & 08.
Posted 23:17 09th February 2013
rugbyheim says...
Huget! - went for the glory instead of passing that ball to Fofana. Who know's what would've happened if he had passed that ball. Rubbish game all round from Les Bleus
Posted 22:21 09th February 2013