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Wales show fighting spirit but France are just too strong

From Alex Bywater AT STADE DE FRANCE

LATE last night, Fabien Galthie’s players watched on from the changing rooms of a deserted Stade de France as Ireland sealed Grand Slam glory with victory over England in Dublin.

On the streets of Paris, where the bin bags were piled high all weekend amid an ongoing strike by France’s refuse collectors over a row about raising the country’s retirement age, supporters of Les Bleus reflected on their team falling just short in their bid for back-to-back titles.

Welsh rugby has also felt the impact of worker anger in 2023. Their players threatened to strike last month over contractual issues in what has been a Six Nations of misery on and off the field.

Warren Gatland’s side suffered a fourth defeat of 2023 in the French capital. Yet this game also saw Wales show significant signs of promise, scoring four tries. But they also conceded five.

France’s display was not perfect but they were still well worthy of victory and their only sadness was that England couldn’t shock the Irish. Still, it was further proof that while everything in their political world might not be flawless right now, French rugby is anything but rubbish.

‘We will surprise some teams in the World Cup by how good we will be and how much we will improve,’ said a bullish Wales head coach Gatland. ‘I am confident with the work we will do in the next few months leading to the World Cup that this group of players will get a lot better.’

It might seem bizarre for Gatland to be so positive after a Six Nations in which his team has suffered four defeats and be subjected to all manner of off-the-field distractions.

In 2023, Wales’ best players have had to cope with the strike threat they made ahead of the England match and seeing their country’s game besieged by contractual and financial uncertainty.

The Welsh Rugby Union was also rocked by damaging allegations of sexism on the eve of the tournament. Gatland admitted the distractions have been ‘significant’ and they have had an impact.

Ahead of the France game, Welsh rugby’s Professional Rugby Board confirmed out-of-contract players can now officially be offered new ones after months of wrangling. The signing of a new six-year funding agreement between the WRU and its regions is also close.

‘There is no doubt the stuff that has been going on behind the scenes has been quite significant during this campaign,’ Gatland said. ‘The boys were brilliant in the way they handled it.’

After falling behind to a surprising fast Wales start and George North’s early try, France clicked into gear and were guided by their wonderful playmaker Romain Ntamack.

Wing Damian Penaud ended the Six Nations as its top try-scorer with five and bookended the scoring with another brace.

In between, Jonathan Danty, Uini Atonio and Gael Fickou also crossed the try line.

France led 34-7 after 50 minutes and another Welsh implosion looked entirely possible at that stage. Yet Gatland’s side not only refused to throw in the towel, but rallied impressively.

Their bench made a big impact. Replacements Bradley Roberts and Tomos Williams both touched down and wing Rio Dyer scored with the final play as Wales grabbed an unlikely four-try bonus point.

‘The more time we spend together, the better we get,’ said Wales captain Ken Owens. ‘We will raise some eyebrows at the World Cup.’

Defeat to France was always going to be likely — Ireland might be the No1 side in the world but France aren’t far behind.

‘We have a success rate of 80 per cent in the last four Six Nations,’ said their head coach Galthie. ‘We’ll finish as the best attack in this Six Nations. I hope teams are scared of us now.’

France’s brute forward power and enterprising back play is a wonderful combination. In Antoine Dupont, Ntamack and Penaud they have majestic players who can cause utter destruction.

They did that to Wales with Ntamack running the show from No10. The pinpoint goalkicking of Thomas Ramos is also a major plus for France.

Gatland’s side are nowhere near France’s level yet. A big six months now awaits them.

Six Nations

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2023-03-19T07:00:00.0000000Z

2023-03-19T07:00:00.0000000Z

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