Blown away by Les Bleus: France 33 - Wales 5

By Dai
March 30 2003

Wales travelled to France hoping to repeat their last two visits to Paris where they had beaten the French but this year the French seemed determined to put an end to their losing strak in the Stade de France. For a full match report and analysis read on.

France 33 - 5 Wales

   Played five lost five is what the Six Nations table says as Wales completed their terrible championship with a comprehensive defeat by France in Paris. Finishing bottom of the table and losing all their matches means that Wales win their first wooden spoon of the Six Nations and their first since 1995.

   After a close fought match in Cardiff last weekend where Wales were unlucky not to shock the Grand slam hopefuls Ireland many had thought that this weekend we would be in for a rugby spectacle - how wrong could we be!

   Things started well for Wales with some good passages of play in the opening few minutes creating an overlap for Gareth Thomas to touchdown in the corner. Wales were 5 - 0 up and looking as though they were about to play eighty minutes of high intensity flowing rugby. However, things went downhill as soon as Thomas scored the try. Stephen Jones failed to convert from out wide and from the restart Wales were put under pressure. This time they managed to hold out the French attack and decided to create an opportunity of their own. Stephen Jones put in a cross field kick which was chased and kicked on by recalled winger Craig Morgan who controlled the ball over the try line only to be let down by the bounce of the ball. Referee Paddy O'Brien went to the video referee but the replays showed that Morgan failed to ground the ball. It began to look as though it wasn't going to be our day after all.

   Wales were let off minutes later when French scrum half Dimitri Yachvili missed a kickable penalty opportunity from in front of the posts. However Wales weren't going to remain in front for much longer as some good build up play by the French forwards along with some confusion in the Welsh midfield allowed Thomas Castaignède to cross the line unchallenged to touchdown under the posts. Yachvili made no mistake with his conversion and France moved into a 7 - 5 lead which was improved upon minutes later when Yachvilli added a penalty to the score to put France five points clear.

   Wales, despite not getting much ball had a couple of opportunities to improve their score through Stephen Jones but he failed with two relatively straightforward penalty attempts and the French went in at half time 10 - 5 up.

   In the second half, France opened the scoring within five minutes after mistakes in a number of the Welsh lineouts. Yachvilli added another penalty which was followed shortly afterwards by a try from Vincent Clerc which was converted by Yachvilli. Putting them 20 - 5 ahead. From then on Wales could not get their hands on the ball for long periods of play and as a result there were further French penalties from Yachvilli and a try for Frèdèric Michalak converted by Yacvilli. 

Analysis

   Stephen Jones had a poor game, missing a number of key penalties and failing to find touch with a number of clearance attempts. Equally unimpressive were Iestyn Harris, Rhys Williams and Craig Morgan. Harris, given the inside centre role looked out of position and his inexperience showed. There were a number of times when a lack of understanding in the defence allowed France to score tries although despite the negative comments there were times when the Welsh defence did well. Rhys Williams, playing full back due to Kevin Morgan being injured had another poor game. His kicking was at times woeful and his failure to take on some responsibility put Wales in trouble. Also ineffective was recalled winger Craig Morgan, despite being unlucky not to score early on there was very little else from his that impressed - having said that I don't think that anyone else in the Welsh squad could have done any better. Another player who failed to impress was Dwayne Peel as he was often too slow to the rucks and most of his Rob Howley style box kicks were ineffective - instead of relieving pressure they set up attacking opportunities for the French.

   In the forwards, Gethin Jenkins and Iestyn Thomas did well - why Hansen replaced Jenkins in the second half with someone who can't scrummage is beyond me. Mefin Davies gave 100% in open play but some of the complicated lineouts went wrong - however, the lineouts to the front and middle were secure. The back row was again a weak area - Martyn Williams one of the only impressive Welsh team members was stuck with clubless Colin Charvis who made a dreadful handling error which led to a French try before being sinbinned for Wales' persistent offending and Dafydd Jones who is a fairly decent flanker but when it comes to being a number eight we need someone who is more of a natural.

Where do we go from here?

   Do we look for a new coach with the World Cup approaching? Do we bring in other players? or do we stick with the current bunch and hope we can see off Italy, Tonga and Canada in the World Cup?

   I think there must be some serious questions asked of Steve Hansen and his coaching team - he continually says that the team are making progress but what does he call progress? If his idea of progress was getting beaten 33 - 5 in France and losing all of our Six nations games then I don't think he is the right man to take us forward. We need someone who can turn these defeats into wins - only when we see some wins will we see progress.

   Also, the issue regarding playing players out of their natural positions must be addressed and the back row needs to be looked at urgently - why wasn't Richard Parks given a chance in the Six Nations? Also perhaps we should consider bringing Geraint Lewis into the squad to see what he can still offer the national team.

   In the backs, Rhys Williams cannot be relied upon to be the Welsh fullback although there is no-one else available to us at the moment. Brett Davey is a consistent club player but I fear his lack of pace could be an issue at international level. Also on the wing I feel it is essential to look for someone to take the right wing position. Injury prone Mark Jones offers very little to the side and Craig Morgan failed to impress yesterday although should be given another chance and Gareth Wyatt must be brought into the squad to show us what he can offer the team.

   At outside half Stephen Jones has been inconsistent, having poor games against Scotland and France but doing well against Ireland. Young Ceri Sweeney missed a couple of kicks against England and was unfairly slaughtered by the press. Stephen Jones hasn't done any better than Sweeney yet he is one of the first names Steve Hansen puts on his teamsheet. We also have a problem at scrum half where Gareth Cooper has had a few average games and Dwayne Peel hasn't yet become an international scrum half - Perhaps Ryan Powell should be given a chance.

FOR ALL THE GAME STATS CHECK OUT FRENCH MATCH DETAILS BY LESTYN

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