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...
@KiwiRooster
Iam well aware that when Toulouse where wining everything Mitclak was at 10 ,im also aware that he had success at 10 for the Sharks ,last year.But the sad fact is he is inconsisent at 10, and thus why his playing 9 for Toulon atm,Wilkinson and Giteau are far more consistent at FH its a simply fact.Thus if PSA really wants to keep playing him ,it should be at 9 for now which allows Trin-Duc to play 10 and atm i think his the only specialist french FH actually playing FH in France??Also Trin-Duc seemed to be inform given Montpelliers results before the championship.So now maybe you understand the calls for a switch.
Posted 22:20 09th February 2013
trelawney says...
No international rugby should ever be played on this pitch again. It was an absolute disgraceful of an excuse for an international stadium. It is not the first time that the pitch was so bad, I think 2 years ago (maybe even one game last year) it was the same. The owners of the ground and the FFR should be held responsible.
As for Freddie - pathetic. He was responsible for the non-attacking French team, no game plan etc.
Posted 22:13 09th February 2013
whatisthis says...
rankings if ireland win will read england 4, ireland 5, france 6, wales 7....wales up to at least 7 regardless of tomorrows result...
Posted 22:08 09th February 2013
makemehappy says...
@1st58 - I know - my argument exactly, bar for the last part of your post. Just going around in circles, so lets just say we agree to disagree!
Posted 22:00 09th February 2013
Dezz says...
@ Fish. You don't seem to understand. It wasn't about performance, Wales needed a win more than anything. To grind out an away win in Paris which hasn't been that great a hunting ground for Wales over the last 30 years was more important.
I hate it when France lose because the opposition get very little credit. It's always "France didn't show up, couldn't be bothered" etc. Both teams were evenly matched and Wales played that bit smarter at the end. A win can change everything in a players mind, Wales might feel a weight has been shed and play some fantastic rugby, or they could lose and be right back to square one. Thank you to all the french posters for being graceful in defeat. I hope you don't have to suffer a losing sequence like Wales have just got over. PSA has to select the correct players in their positions now.
I'm just happy to get a win. Feel gutted for Warburton. He doesn't play and Wales win.
Posted 21:58 09th February 2013
KiwiRooster says...
When PSA will make the centre position Fofana, Fritz, Bastareaud and Fickou's France will have a lot more bite in attack and nous in defence.
He also needs specialist wingers and fullbacks: Huget and Clerc on the right, O'Connor on the left, Dulin, Buttin, Palisson and Médard (who can both play on the left wing) at fullback.
The flanker and prop positions could do with a bit of fresh blood as well.
Overall it would not take a lot of reshuffling from Saint-André to get France back in that november train. It is just a pity Saint-André screwed it up so bad since then. Is it the result of the French selection committee interfering? That also is so typically French, unfortunately. It is not the French players being poor, it is just their environnement being (...) inadequate. The French Union, Clubs and coach all appear to have a knack for shooting themselves in the foot.
Back to the 6N, the only major cut Saint-André will have to undertake is between Parra and Trinh-Duc. Remember Parra was a 10 before becoming a 9 and I can see why: he shares more common attributes with Aaron Cruden than Will Genia. Quite clearly. So it will have to be one or the other player, but not both.
So far however, Saint-André has been pursuing what Lièvremont had already abandonned and refused to make a tough call. Playing Morgan Parra at number 10 in the RWC 2011 final was no mistake. That moment of clairvoyance from Lièvremont came a little too late. And quite frankly, I do not understand why Saint-André is still keeping both Parra AND Trinh-Duc knowing that they cannot play for each other. It is a complete waste of time and experience for someone else.
If Saint-André consider there are no other worthy number 10 (sorry Wisniewski, Barraque, etc) then at the very least he should replace Parra with Paillaugue at 9 who happens to provide such a good plateform for T-D to express his talent.
Posted 21:52 09th February 2013
Bambo says...
A truly awful game from both sides. I really hoped that after ML a new France would emerge with PSA. The superb Autumn internationals raised my hopes still further but I now find myself seriously imagining a single win is all France might come away with. Even then I can see Scotland (who were fabulous today) squeezing a win in the final match leaving only the wooden spoon for les bleus?! God!
Justice, I really hope, for once, you are right a France produce a big win! That last statement just goes to show that this is a 6N with the unexpected following the unexpected!
Posted 21:41 09th February 2013
exlondonfrog says...
France is going to win in England, remember tonga 2011, beware, beware...
Posted 21:40 09th February 2013
Michtymauler says...
Well, following the earlier match, that was boring and painful! True, Wales ground out the win.. the match certainly ground me down! Great try at the end though and well taken by a big lad in such a small area to manoeuvre..
I did kind of like it when the Taffs were on a losing streak.. Not because they were getting beat however as I think they've a fantastic back line. No it's just that now the welsh fans have crawled out of the woodwork and ridiculously shouting about how fab they are after beating one of the worst French teams I've ever seen.. Two weeks in a row!!!
This is a very open Six nations.. whichis a good thing.. It's going to be very interesting in two weeks time...
Posted 21:23 09th February 2013
Waz4before says...
Dreadful game by any standards. It goes to show just how over-rated France were going into this tournament - and for Wales, they weren't as bad as their recent record suggested and will be very happy with this win. Evn the style of the win shouldn't bother them, they hav a shot now at retaining their title ...
Posted 21:22 09th February 2013
Michtymauler says...
Well, following the earlier match, that was boring and painful! True, Wales ground out the win.. the match certainly ground me down! Great try at the end though and well taken by a big lad in such a small area to manoeuvre..
I did kind of like it when the Taffs were on a losing streak.. Not because they were getting beat however as I think they've a fantastic back line. No it's just that now the welsh fans have crawled out of the woodwork and ridiculously shouting about how fab they are after beating one of the worst French teams I've ever seen.. Two weeks in a row!!!
This is a very open Six nations.. whichis a good thing.. It's going to be very interesting in two weeks time...
Posted 21:20 09th February 2013
new_j4a says...
I am with you melkdave. I will put money on France to beat either Ireland or England and maybe both...the beast is wounded and we all know that the French are capable of rugby head and shoulders above what anyone else is able to produce in the NH
Posted 21:18 09th February 2013
jamesliveinhope says...
@dannyboy agreed standard has fallen dramatically BUT only one of the teams playing today was a winner last week and, despite their result, Italy probably played the most structured and coherent game of rugby .
To be fair, scrummaging on a big green beach towel prevented either side gaining any sort of attacking platform from the set piece but, how did France put so many passes down in that final 20? Jonathan Davies made the comment that both sides were playing not to lose - looked more to me that they were both playing not to win even the North try looked like an attempted touch find gone wrong.
Posted 21:17 09th February 2013
KiwiRooster says...
@ArmchairGeneral you cannot argue that France has always picked players were they do not belong, even at club level.
If you compare New Zealand and France, once can only realise how little understanding there is in France of how carefully a utility player should be used.
A utility player is not there to replace the actual specialist at every position; except in France.
So while I understand Bernard Laporte did not have the array of players Philippe Saint-André has today, only he could pick Damien Traille at 15 or Sébastien Chabal at 7. And that unfortunately is so typical of French rugby. This way of experimenting half-arsed options when the game matters most.
Michalak at 9 is another good one everyone in France tend to forget. What position was Michalak used at when Stade Toulousain was at their all time France and European best? The answer is: at number 10. What position was Michalak most commonly used at when playing for the Durban Sharks? The answer is: at number 10 (only used at 9 as a utility player, not the other way round!) This is where the French playmaker is at his best. Fact.
And what can you hear today from his critics? Play Michalak at 9 (sure thing) given that is where Bernard Laporte plays him at RC Toulon. Guy Novès lately admit playing Michalak at 9 in the latter years was a mistake. Laporte also announced that should Johnny Wilkinson decide to retire from rugby this year, Michalak will recover his number 10 jersey for RC Toulon. And yet, people just do not seem to comprehend, they still want Michalak at 9.
And that for me is so typically French. I mean take Luke McAllister who played more often at 12 than 10 in New Zealand, Overthere, they have such an understanding of the reality facing utility players, even when they have one as brilliant as McAllister, he remains nothing more than a replacement solution at 10.
Posted 21:13 09th February 2013
new_j4a says...
I am with you melkdave. I will put money on France to beat either Irel
Posted 21:11 09th February 2013
3in4 says...
Dreadful game with two utterly rubbish teams.
Posted 20:55 09th February 2013
KiwiRooster says...
Saint-André is trapped in his own certitude. With Fall out on injury, he is now left with no credible options at the back and that is how we will end up with Trinh-Duc at fullback...
France can already forget about this year's 6 Nations and Saint-André has lost valuable time and an even more valuable opportunity to make any impression.
To salvage this tournament, his team will have to defeat England in Twickenham and I cannot see that happening without switching a few players at the very least:
If Saint-André was to stop his pointless experimentations, we could well see what is in my view the most exciting pair of centres in Europe: Fofana-Bastareaud. There is no better combination of speed and raw power, no better defense as well. France will thouroughly need it against England
Saint-André current undoing is his lack of choice from the bench. There are no wingers left. Should Benjamin Fall be out of the Tournament, Saint-André would have to bring someone else from his last list: possibly an out of form Médard (the only utility player), an unexperienced Bonneval or a specialist fullback in Buttin. Palisson (another good utility player) was not on his list, neither was the excellent Marvin O'Connor (specialist winger) and that was certainly Saint-André's biggest failure to ignite.
So in the current state, it seems Saint-André has no choice but to leave Fofana on the wing, which pretty much makes that 6N tournament a pointless act for France after such good november test matches.
This means the French "genius" of a coach will certainly have to do his best with:
Fofana (14) Fritz (12) Bastareaud (13) Fall (11)
Huget (15)
or if Fall turns out to be out of the tournament:
Fofana (14) Fritz (12) Bastareaud (13) Huget (11)
Trinh-Duc (15)
In this current shape: expect a very long and painful encounter with England. France will be lucky to escape with a few limbs.
Posted 20:34 09th February 2013
astrospange says...
Poor game and poor reffing
Posted 20:24 09th February 2013
Lucasrg says...
Ulala...thanks mother earth I'm not Franch today. !
Posted 20:23 09th February 2013
Dannyboy says...
Crap game, crap weekend of rugby so far, we we're spoilt last week. Tomorrow better be better or I quit!
Posted 20:16 09th February 2013