It used to be a cliche to say that France do not travel well in this competition and always save their best to spring when the sun of Paris is on their backs. This season’s Six Nations has already turned the cliche on its head with Fabien Galthié’s side winning so impressively against England and not so impressively against Italy in foul February weather in the French capital. And now this.
But the trip to Cardiff was always going to be the acid test for Galthié’s French revolution, even if the closed roof of the Principality Stadium did spare France, and everyone else, the threat of more of the horrible weather that has marred this year’s championship and made life so miserable for so many people living in the Valleys this last fortnight.
France were up against the most experienced side ever to take to the field in the Six Nations. Wayne Pivac had chosen a side containing 859 caps with Alun Wyn Jones alone playing his 68th international in Cardiff. The French had another psychological obstacle to overcome. Last year they were 16-0 up at the interval before losing to a Welsh side that went on to win the grand slam. They had also lost their lead and their heads when Wales beat them in their fractious World Cup quarter-final.
Now France have a fresh sense of purpose and they have Shaun Edwards, who may not know too much French but does know how to organise a defence. Edwards’s return to Wales was always going to be the major subplot of this compelling drama. And the French defence was the star of the show. Dan Biggar’s late try made it a nervous last five minutes for Edwards and the travelling French fans but France can now dream of a grand slam – and who would bet against them with Ireland coming to Paris for the last game of the tournament?
France have a brilliant new half-back partnership in Antoine Dupont and his partner Romain Ntamack, who was man of the match here, and the pair operate behind a brutally effective pack. They are a young side playing without fear and Galthié has instilled a discipline that was lacking in the wasted years under Jacques Brunel. This was their first win in Cardiff for 10 years and only the most one-eyed of Wales supporters would deny them their triumph. The win had the stamp of Edwards all over it and the French renaissance has been the real story of this year’s Six Nations.
French ears were ringing from the comments of Welsh loosehead prop Wyn Jones, who had accused France during the week of cheating at scrums. So the first set-piece of the evening was a big one. The Welsh scrum held firm. Biggar took advantage of the benign indoor weather conditions to land a penalty. All was set fair for those experienced old heads.
Until Leigh Halfpenny, the only player in their starting lineup to start this fixture a decade ago, fluffed a high kick and the France full-back Anthony Bouthier ran in their first try. George North collided with Gaël Fickou and the wing had to leave the field for a head injury assessment.
North never returned to the pitch and Wales lost one of the premier attacking weapons. Biggar kept the scoreboard moving with more successful penalties. The fly-half’s participation in the game had been a subject of debate after his concussion in the defeat in Dublin but he was as brave as ever in the face of a French onslaught in the first half.
There was a collective shudder among the Wales support, though, when Paul Willemse battered his way over for a second try from a slick lineout move on the half-hour mark. Then came the key point in the match. The clock past the 40-minute mark and Wales spurned the chance of two kickable penalties to opt to go for the line. For over five minutes of added time, France held firm with 14 players following the yellow card for the La Rochelle No 8 Grégory Alldritt. Edwards doesn’t really smile but up in his glass eyrie he must have been purring.
The question was whether France, so imperious in the first halves against England and Italy, but less so after the interval, could keep the pressure up in the second half here. Dillon Lewis, the Cardiff Blues tighthead, finally breached their defence when he touched down on the posts to raise the decibel levels.
Nick Tompkins, whose missed tackle in Dublin set the Irish on their way, then made another blunder. The Saracens centre’s pass was intercepted by Ntamack and the young fly-half, like Bouthier before him, was not about to let this gilt-edged opportunity slip from his grasp. Tompkins had scored a try against Italy on his debut off the bench but life has been getting more difficult since. Wales had just been getting on top. Those decibel levels took a dive.
France brought on the substitutes, including the hooker Camille Chat, with his Popeye-like biceps, to add a bit more muscle to their cause. Most of their forwards look like they are no strangers to a tin of spinach or two. With every passing match Eddie Jones’s boasts before that fateful Paris match that they were going to bully this side look more and more empty.
