Loose Pass: A Six Nations night in Paris, Wales on the precipice and a glimpse of the future

Lawrence Nolan

This week we will mostly be concerning ourselves with a night in Paris, Wales on the precipice and a glimpse of the future…

Paris in the springtime

It has been picture-book spring weather over most of Europe for a good three weeks now, with Paris at the weekend no exception. There were so many people on the streets in general that the potential of a special rugby atmosphere might have been somewhat diluted, were it not for the large number of huge chaps from the provinces in both good voice and lubrication ensuring entertainment on many a street-corner bar.

Italy’s victory over Wales uplifted the mood still further, and not even heavy delays on the train line up to the Stade de France dampened the joie de vivre. The sense of inevitability and confidence coursed strongly through the ambience. England fans remained, by and large, quiet, only adding to the feeling that nothing would stop this particular party from happening.

Your correspondent had been to this same fixture two years ago, a game in which this French team established itself as dark horses, at least, for the next World Cup. A young team, a couple of older heads, a hand-picked coaching staff… the building blocks were in place.

But back then at least, English fans also arrived with confidence and songs. A few short weeks later, the world was locked down and everything changed. In between then and now, many of those present had been through their own version of Covid hell, but while England’s game has stagnated, their team unable to lift themselves to anything like the heights of the 2019 World Cup, France’s has only developed.

That was reflected in the fans too. English fans arrived with faint hope, but the negative atmosphere hanging over them was very much at odds both with the stunning weather and the waves of pride and expectation that washed over the stadium every time something happened. Few really engaged about their thoughts on the game ahead, beyond stating their impressed admiration for this French generation of players. Few – none of whom were vaguely sober – expected a win. Renditions of ‘Swing Low’ were, if not half-hearted, then definitely for show more than in faith. England’s rugby public is suffering from the malaise of disappointment and stagnation at the moment and it really showed.

The French have no such problem. The Stade de France in full swing is quite an impressive sight; fortunate, considering the cubist wasteland surrounding it. From the moment the light show greeted the entrance of the gladiators into the arena the voices roared. Backed by that atmosphere, France were never likely to fail. Halfway through La Marseillaise, the music stopped playing; it didn’t need to. The fans carried the tune and the volume, barely letting up from the first minute to the last of the match.

The final scrum was irritating to some, using up more than two minutes with some tiresome resets, but it did give those fans one more chance to belt out the anthem before the crescendo at the finale. The party then started in quasi-earnest; it was a sign of the respect afforded to this team’s achievements that more than half the stadium was still there near midnight, a return to Paris’ lights then unlikely until after 1am. With no alcohol on sale in the stadium (French law prohibits it, so all the beer after the security gates was alcohol-free), the late-night energy was fuelled by happiness alone.

Back in Paris itself, the length of the day – which had started with a lunch 12 hours earlier – caught up with many, others more were still up at the stadium facing a long journey either home or into town. But one sentence uttered to me, by a loquacious, hazy-eyed chap from Bordeaux in answer to my question about where a bigger rugby party might be ongoing, spoke volumes about the atmosphere and the expectations of this French team.

“It’s late for a party tonight,” he said. “The stadium is too far out of town and lots of us have to go home tomorrow. But come back in 2023. We won’t be going home then.”

False dawn

A moment late in the WalesItaly game spoke volumes about the current disorder afflicting the Welsh.

Both Callum Sheedy and Taulupe Faletau went for a high ball. Sheedy won by a nose, but quite clearly got an earful from Faletau, whereupon the fly-half whipped a near-uncatchably bullet hard pass over three whole metres to his number eight, who charged in a straight line towards the onrushing defenders.

Harmony it was not, nor strategy, nor coolness under pressure. All three of those were in such short supply for Wales on Saturday, despite the hundreds of caps of experience on the field, that you had to consider what kind of rupture within the squad, or between squad and coaching staff, might have happened during the week.

Wales’ press has been in meltdown ever since, with the calls for Wayne Pivac’s exit only slightly louder than those for Stephen Jones. But the bigger picture is far harder to solve than simply picking a few blank P45s off the shelf.

Wales’ U20 also claimed only one tournament win this year, also only against Scotland, while they were given some sound beatings in a few other games (and they also lost at home to Italy). That’s not much of a deviation from the norm of the past five years, save the 2016 Grand Slam. The regions continue to flounder in all the tournaments they are involved in; only the Ospreys have a winning record in the United Rugby Championship and they are yet to tour South Africa.

Former Welsh Rugby Union CEO David Moffett was on his soapbox again after the Italy defeat, saying he’d be able to sort Wales out within 12 months. Alas, he did not elaborate on the master plan beyond saying he’d not be popular. But maybe it’d be good to draw one out of him to see if it was feasible. The current one is not working.

Right now, Wales needs a strategy, both on and off the field. The date with Fiji in Bordeaux next September looms extremely large.

While on the subject of youngsters

The bouquets and gongs are being hurled with gusto in the direction of the French, and with good reason. But they were not the only ones to claim a Grand Slam this weekend.

Ireland’s U20s completed their own with a 59-5 thumping of Scotland on Sunday, a Slam featuring an average of 42 points a game and one try shy of six tries per game, not to mention the rare double of beating both France and England away. Ireland’s production line is doing just fine.

Italy’s also is, after they finished the tournament with three wins, including one over England, their first-ever. Youth performance does not always translate to the senior team, but it does at least point towards functioning internal pathway structures; on that basis, both Wales and Scotland have much to ponder.

READ MORE: Opinion: Five busted myths about England and what Eddie Jones needs to do before Rugby World Cup