Andy Bulls’ report from Paris has landed and with that I’ll say goodnight.
That was a 5/10 performance from France and yet they put on a score that would please most opening partnerships in cricket.
Wales were decent but got walloped. “There’s a lot of good there,” says captain Jac Morgan. Where do they from from here?
I hope you go to Andy’s musings below. I’ll see you soon.
Cheers.
Something I missed in real time on Ntamack’s red card incident.
Dan Biggar on ITV spotted it. Minutes before, Ben Thomas nailed the French fly-half. It was slightly late, but still legal.
Clearly Ntamack remembered that as he charged straight into Thomas’ head with his shoulder.
Pretty poor from someone who is supposed to be a leader. He’ll miss the game against England next week because of that recklessness.
Here’s Gregory Aldritt who is the player of the match:
A big performance, it’s incredible to play in front of this stadium.
The key was to play as a team. We have a lot of really good individual players, but we wanted to play as a team. We did well. We’re happy with the performance. But we only did 20% of the job. We have to get back to work on Monday.
We know that the team is difference when Dupont is with us. He’s the best player in the world.
We have a massive pack. So if defences are trying to be narrow, that brings spaces out wide.
Full-time: France 43-0 Wales
Seven tries to none, this is a shellacking however you slice it. The thing is Wales never looked like landing a blow. And even though France were far from their best, they had enough individual quality to blow Wales away and confine them to a 13th straight loss.
80 min: France have forced Wales back deep into their own half. If they’re going to avoid the dreaded doughnut they’re going to have to go a long way. Tomkins collects a chip over the top around halfway and makes some yards. Then Morgan has it down the left wing and there’s a half chance…. but the inside pass doesn’t stick. That’s that.
TRY! France 43-0 Wales (Aldritt, 78)
And another! That probably earns Aldritt the player of the match award. It started with Guillard serving as a surprise carrier off the top of the line-out that this time did not maul. He came close. Marchand picked and went. But it was Aldritt who collected and burrowed over to dot down. The conversion is missed but that’s immaterial at this point. This is some hiding.
77 min: That’s a meaty kick that puts France back within touching distance of the Welsh line. They have the line-out throw about five out.
76 min: A French scrum just inside their own territory on the left. Le Garrec box kicks and is charged down. Doesn’t matter. Thomas the lock is offside and is shown a yellow card for his troubles.
74 min: Right then, can Wales make use of this man advantage and get on the scoreboard? Off a scrum they retain possession and charge into French territory. Eight phases but then Thomas fails to link with Liam Williams and there’s a dropped ball. Just so ordinary from Wales. It’s out for a line-out in fact. Either way, that’s a tame end to a tame attack?
Red card! France (Ntamack, 72)
As expected, Ntamack, back for his country for the first time in 18 months, has been shown a red card. Can’t complain. The replays are pretty damning. High degree of danger and he’ll miss next week’s game.
Updated
72 min: Wales get the maul on from the line-out in the corner but France hold them up short of the line. Both teams send in support players to the standing maul as it drifts over the French try-line. it remains lifted and France win the ball. There’s a bit of afters with some pushing and shoving, but it’s all settled quickly. France clear to around halfway with a drop-out and Wales come again. Can they register at least one score?
Yellow card! France (Ntamack, 70)
No doubt. A clear shot from shoulder to head from Ntamack on Thomas, who now sports a wad of tissue up his nose. Could be a red honestly. Not sure what Ntamack was trying to do. Never once dropped, his arm never rose. Clear red for me.
70 min: Oh, lovely from Tomos Williams who chips over the line for Thomas who gathers as he runs through. The 10 tries his own kick, a diagonal grubber, but he can’t find the support runner. We’re coming back for a Welsh penalty though and it might be more as Ntamack’s shoulder smacked Thomas’ head.
TRY! France 38-0 Wales (Gaileton, 68)
He scores with his first touch of the game! On as a replacement for Ramos, Gailleton dots down after Ramos finds him with a cross-field kick. Not straight to hand, but the bounce was kind and the replacement winger just had to be patient before stepping to score. Lively skills and hands in the build-up. It’s not structured, but it’s devastating when it works.
Updated
66 min: Better from Wales off a scrum inside French territory. Morgan picks up off the back and gives it to Tomos Williams on a wraparound. he injects some pace in the move and straightens. He searches for Liam Williams who feeds Adams on the wing. But Bielle-Biarrey wraps him up and soon Wales cough up the ball.
64 min: France attempt a set strike play from a line-out on the left. Nothing special. It ends with a kick that dribbles beyond a chasing Attissogbe. A reminder than both French wings are on a hat-trick. They’ve seen virtually none of the ball since Dupont went off.
62 min: Let off for Wales as Le Garrec knocks on at the base of a ruck after Marchand and then Baille carry with immense strength. Baille seemed to hold up the entire Welsh pack on his own as he got a second shove on and stormed towards the Welsh line. France’s big boys proving the difference in the closing stages. But Wales have which they win. A monstrous clearing kick from Edwards finds touch over halfway. Antoher Thomas (first name Freddie) comes on to win his second cap in the second row.
61 min: A croc-roll against Wales hands France a penalty just to the left of the poles between the halfway and Welsh 22. Dee was the guilty man there. Not intentional, he just spiralled his torso as he cleaned out. Ntamack kicks to touch. They’re on the hunt for a sixth try.
60 min: More of the same from Wales. Thomas finds Adams with a short pass. Rowlands carries but it’s all pretty innocuous. Eventually Thomas kicks possession away. Ramos gathers and hoofs down field. Too easy for the French defenders. Wales just don’t have the heft to run over tacklers. And they don’t have enough skill to work the space. A pretty meh display this half.
Updated
57 min: What can Wales do from here? Ten phases and they’re building something between halfway and France’s 22. But they’re making no progress. Just no imagination or punch. France can swarm over ball carriers and force the spill after Smith charges with intent. But there’s a French knock-on so Wales will get another feel of the ball from a scrum about 35 metres away from where they need to be
TRY! France 33-0 Wales (Marchand, 55)
No stopping that. Once Marchand found his jumper it was only ending with a try. He was helped by extra bodies adding their heft to the maul. Wales were powerless to stop it. Ramos, for the first time tonight, misses. That was perhaps the easiest kick of the five.
Updated
54 min: Ntamack, who can now shine with Dupont off the pitch, sparked that move. He kicks into touch and asks his big mates to maul over the line.
53 min: Ntamack canters through a hole in the midfield off slightly broken play. He’s away down the centre of the pitch, finds Le Garrec on his inside, Guillard keeps it alive. Aldritt then picks up off the deck and they’re into the 22. A Welsh hand gets stuck in and that’s a penalty on the ground right in front of the poles on their own 22. Illegally killing the ball right after a man strayed off side. They’re on a collective warning again.
51 min: Ramos almost finds Bielle-Biarrey flying down the left after some scrappy play. As David Flatman on comms says, the French attack has actually been quite ordinary. Nothing really set, all just vibes and individual dazzles. Welsh scrum on halfway to the right.
49 min: Salt in the wounds. France win the scrum penalty against the fresh front row of Wales. Smith seemed to have the upper hand, but that’s not how the refs saw it.
What’s Bom Squad in French because here come six replacements all at once. Dupont is off for Le Garrec. Guillard, Auradou, Marchand, Baille and Colombe on as well.
47 min: Wales win the line-out, set the maul but then go down the line. All the way from the right wing to the left. Then all the way back. They’re making no yards forward. Strong defence. No cracks here. Eventually Wales drop the ball in contact after another short carry is repelled. Ordinary from the Welsh. No Plan B on attack.
46 min: Front row changes for Wales as they opt to go for the line-out in the right corner. Smith, Dee and Assiratti all on in time for the maul.
45 min: Brilliant interplay from Wales. Adams with the initial charge down the left wing who then found Morgan inside him who then found Tomos Williams who then kept it alive after that. They recycle and Reffell carries hard. In the 22. Edwards with a carry. Penalty advantage so they can chance their arm. They rush the pass and Bielle-Biarrey pounces on a loose ball and he’s away until the whistle sounds. High quality from Wales and they have the penalty inside France’s 22.
Updated
42 min: The second half has started with a bit of kick tennis. It ends with Meafou carrying into heavy traffic on halfway. Six phases kayer Dupont snipes. Cros picks up and stitches an off-load. Dupont spills it but backwards so Ntamack has to mop up. Then Ramos’ tip-on pass goes forward and that’s called. Lovely build up play but Wales will be pleased with their defensive sets. It’s from broken play or from kicks that the French are causing problems. When they’re running at a set defence they’re not finding a way through.
Dean Kinsella agrees that Wales haven’t been awful, but there’s a catch:
Hi Dan, its fair to say Wales haven’t been that bad but its unfortunate this is their opening game. An absolute pasting may crush any optimism they may have had. They need a strong showing in the 2nd half, even though this game is obviously gone, to prepare themselves for the challenges to come.
Geoff Wignall has given me homework:
Hello Daniel, Please could you show your working for figuring that the third try pass was legal? Dupont made it from behind the five metre line and it was caught about a metre out. No question about who’s the far better team, but that was ridiculous. (I’m not Welsh.)
Can’t now, they players are out and it’s time for the second half.
Stat from Russ Petty:
Wales down by 24, 20 & 28 points at HT in round 1 in last 3 Six Nations.
Simon Fuller thinks at least a couple of those final passes drifted forward:
“Has the forward pass rule changed? Three of those tries looked very dubious. And yes, I’m Welsh.”
I can see why you’re asking, especially for the second and third tries. But I think they were both legal.
Andy Flintoff (no that one, or so he says) has written in:
“So the IRB decided to punish dangerous play (head-on-head contact) by a red card, but the top teams didn’t like that as players were being sent off, so instead of training to improve tackle technique and tackle lower (and reduce risk), they forced the IRB to reduce the punishment to at most a 20-minute reduction in player numbers? Have I got that right?”
You know Andy, I’m glad you pointed this out. I never had a problem with teams being rightly punished if a player put in a dangerous tackle. But I also didn’t like games turning into something I didn’t enjoy because of a red card. I guess this is the closest we can get to having our cake and eating it.
I agree though. It’s not a perfect compromise.
Half-time: France 28-0 Wales
Would you believe me if I told you Wales haven’t been that bad? Still, France are that good. And two tries apiece for their wingers, and a few dazzling moments from Dupont, Ntamack and Ramos, means it’s one-way traffic in Paris.
TRY! France 28-0 Wales (Bielle-Biarrey, 40)
Inevitable. The maul was immense and got a roll on. Mauvaka at the base was inches away before it went down. Dupont then, calm as you like, as if he’s on the beach with his mates, unfurls a floating pass for Bielle-Biarrey on the left wing. he gathers, steps off his left foot and dots down. Ramos converts his fourth shot at goal and that’ll bring an end to a commanding half for the French.
Updated
40 min: France win the line-out but a strong counter shove from Wales keeps the maul at bay. Dupont has a dart himself and shows great strength. Wales give away a penalty five from their own line after a defender loses his feet. Then another strays offside. So although they prevent the try, they’ve now got a collective warning. One more penalty in the red zone and another man in red will get sin-binned. Ntamack again kicks it out on the right. They want another crack at a rolling maul try.
39 min: Oh… almost another cross-field kick try-assist for Attissogbe, this time from Ntamack off the scrum. The winger was hugging the touchline but the kick was just a little too long and too far in front. But they had the penalty advantage from the scrum so Ntamack kicks to touch for a line-out on the left. Can’t see them messing this up again.
37 min: Wales have looked alright when they’ve kept the ball, but yet again a poor kick hands possession back. It’s not that kicking from deep on that occasion was a bad call, it’s just that it was too far from the supporting chasers. France come away with it and a cheeky grubber from Dupont on halfway causes problems in the deep. After a bobble and few bodies chasing after it in the corner, Rogers dots the ball down. But it was carried back! France have a scrum five out. yet again Dupont with the ball on a string. Made life a nightmare for young Edwards who made a meal of that cleanup job.
Updated
Lloyd’s yellow remains a yellow. A silver lining. That he was the second tackler he probably gets away with it.
TRY! France 21-0 Wales (Attissogbe, 34)
Magic from Dupont! From nothing, without any hint of danger, he carves the game open. At the base of the ruck, he picks up and drops his hip before exploding into space and upfield. He then skins Liam Williams before floating a pass over the top towards the right wing where Attissogbe gathers and – eventually – dots down. Ramos converts, because he doesn’t miss, and suddenly a hiding is on the cards.
Updated
33 min: France cough up the line-out. It’s spilled in the air and Reffell collects, much to the relief of the Welsh defenders. Williams hoofs it long off the box kick and Bielle-Biarrey carries back.
32 min: France win the line-out and go down the right as quick as they can. But there’s a penalty in the line-out for intruding on the French set-piece (collapsing the maul that didn’t quite set?). Either way, Ntamack nudges it out again for another line-out.
31 min: The Welsh scrum becomes a French penalty and Ntamack nudges it to the corner. France will have the line-out on the left.
Yellow card! Wales (Lloyd, 31)
There’s a TMO review for a dangerous shot and Lloyd is shown yellow with a review to come. As he’s gone in to act as the second tackler on Bielle-Biarrey he’s made head on head contact and he has to go.
30 min: Dupont again takes control off the back of the scrum but this time his kick doesn’t come off as they move down the left from the centre of the Welsh 22. That took a knock off a Welsh thigh so France build again. Bielle-Biarrey steps off his wing. Great defence from Wales forces a knock-on. Gareth Thomas and others immense. They’ve been really solid when given the chance to form a defensive set. Morgan and Reffell have also caused problems at the breakdown. Despite the score, and a few poor kicks, they’ve been handy.
Updated
28 min: Edwards has moved to fly-half with Thomas slotting in the midfield. They’re keeping the ball but then another aimless kick gifts possession away. Attissogbe, from his own 22, launches a bomb off his right boot and it looks like it’s bobbled out for a 50-22. No, not quite, just outside the Welsh 22. Still, a mighty hoof! And the Welsh line-out is sloppy and there’s a knock-on over the top. France have the scrum feed in centre field on the Welsh 22. France are dominating now.
They’re not showing the Watkin injury replay. Could be serious. Knee? Some sort of ligament. Didn’t look good.
We come back for a Welsh scrum just inside their own territory to the left.
There’s a delay as Watkin receives treatment. I’m not sure what’s happened but he looks in genuine pain. he was carrying into contact but went down before the tackle was made and was already crying out in agony. The stretcher is out. Hope it’s not too serious. Watkin is able to hobble off and is replaced by Dan Edwards, who makes his Test debut.
Updated
26 min: Wales with the ball again inside French territory. Thomas with a busting charge through midfield. Reffell involved. Seven phases, now eight. Tomos Williams is snagged in possession but they keep it alive. Thomas kicks but it’s a poor one. France can field that without any trouble and take the mark.
TRY! France 14-0 Wales (Bielle-Biarrey, 24)
They’re ridiculous when they play like this. Ramos is some player. Earlier in the move he kept the ball alive by playing a keepy-uppy for himself. Now, with space forming out to his right, he ran off Ntamack before popping it for his winger who scampered over the line. Just to add the icing, Ramos slots the conversion.
Updated
23 min: Off the scrum, Dupont drops into the pocket as Aldritt picks up off the base. With that extra space Dupoint launches a wraparound move that unleashes Attissogbe down the right. They’re cantering forward. Ramos is nailed but they keep it going. The continuity is superb. Wonderful hands…
20 min: Wales win a line-out on halfway. They mustn’t lise heart after that. They were hanging with the French before that. Thomas hoists a high kick and they win it in the air. Tomkins then with a carry. But then Thomas, after delaying his pass, drifts it forward right in front of the referee. Just as another move started to form, they cough up the ball. A patter is emerging.
Tough on Adams on defence. He was totally taken out of the game with that kick.
TRY! France 7-0 Wales (Attissogbe, 18)
Sublime! The young winger scores his third try for his country, but it was delivered on a plate from Dupont who dropped only a touch deeper, unfurled a cross-field kick and landed it in Attissogbe’s breadbasket. Just perfect. Ramos converts a tricky one out wide and the French are up and running.
Updated
18 min: Seven phases with short passes to heavies and the French are withing touching distance. Dupont has a dip, then Bielle-Biarrey down the left. They have the penalty advantage….
16 min: Wales’ scrum holds but they’re back on their line after strong French defending and counter rucking. Williams box kicks inside his own goal area and finds touch. They’re surviving so far.
14 min: France knock-on a metre away from the Welsh line! Dupont makes a great read in midfield and rushes Tomkins who spills the ball. Attissogbe kicks ahead and chases and almost gets there, but as he slides in to gather he spills it. Pressure now on Wales and their scrum five from their own line.
Updated
14 min: Roumat rises to claim a line-out on halfway. Dupont then switches the play and kicsk it straight out. He looks quizzically at his mates but that was just poor from the great player.
11 min: Another lengthy delay. Williams will put in to this Welsh scum inside France’s 22 on the right. They charge straight and then go down the left across the line. Adams was in space but they can’t get down to him quick enough. Still they come, first left and then back right. Short passes for runners but France win a penalty on the ground, Aldritt getting over the ball. Wales will be frustrated and encouraged by that. All off the base of a solid scrum.
9 min: The scrum collapses multiple times and it ends in a Welsh free-kick. They hoist it high but Ramos comes away with it after a Welsh knock-on. Then they steal it back. Morgan carries. Tell you what, they’re playing well. Thomas with a dink over the top and the cross-field kick almost comes off. Adams close to getting on the end of it.
7 min: Patience before France strike down the right. Attissogbe has no space but still finds room to skip down the wing. He has support on his inside but can’t the ball away thanks to a Reffell tackle. If he did it was a try. France recycle but dally and Reffell stoops low to steal the ball. What a minute for the Leicester Tiger flank.
Wales have a chance to stay on the ball but spill it soon after. Watkin couldn’t quite scoop a low pass with an overlap forming down his right.
Scrum to France.
5 min: Stiff defence from Wales as France move the ball at pace but laterally. Adams nails Barassi in the tackle. It bobbles out for a French throw and they set the maul. Aldritt then darts down the blind and France rumble onwards.
4 min: Dupont is held up over the line! France win the line-out and then a penalty on the ground. Dupong taps and goes and ghosts past four men in red. he’s bundled over the try line but held up by two tacklers. Rogers wriggling his body between the ball and the ground. Wainwright is off with a blood injury and replaced by Reffell.
3 min: Oh but France turn on the class. wales cough up possession with a needless grubber and Ramos, with his first touch of the ball, launches an unreal 50-22. France with the line-out inside Wales’ 22.
2 min: Wales kick off and then get it back after Dupont kicsk. The Welsh built through phases. Morgan with a strong carry. They’re hovering around the halfway but good continuity. Seven phases before Tomos Williams boxes. They have it back. Great start for Wales.
A minute applause for former France Under-18 international Medhi Narjissi, who was swept away to his death off a South African beach back in August.
Then the anthems, Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau” followed by “La Marseillaise”.
The French, illuminated in a field otherwise covered in darkness, belt out their nation’s battle cry acapella. Wow. Good luck Wales. Those boys in blue are ready to run through walls. If Wales pull this off it’d be one of the biggest upsets in rugby history. No question.
The players are making their way out of the tunnel and the Stade looks INSANE!
If you ever get the chance to watch a rugby match in Paris you have to take it. Bucket list stuff. No wonder Twickenham wants to start hosting Friday night matches. The French make it the hottest ticket ticket in town.
Updated
It’s starting to rain in Paris.
Gatland says that might help his team and “even things up and make it more difficult to play.”
He says he’s already fostered a “siege mentality” and has encouraged the players to “enjoy the occasion”.
There are a bunch of new laws in place for this year’s Six Nations:
Conversions must take place within 60 seconds.
Lineouts to be formed within 30 seconds (same as scrums)
No stoppage for lineouts that aren’t straight if the defending team doesn’t contest.
9s (or players at the base of a ruck, maul or scrum) have more protection from defenders (effectively given more space).
20 minute red card – players can still get sent off, but after 20 minutes they can be replaced by a teammate, which means we can hopefully stop talking about red cards ruining games.
I was listening to the BBC’s Rugby Union Daily this week. Chris Jones and Ugo Monye asked every coach and captain which opposition player they’d want in their own squad. No surprise, just about every person said Antoine Dupont.
My fellow South Africans might be rolling their eyes reading this, but the more I think about it the more I think he’s the best player of all time, or at least on his way to becoming the best player of all time.
Rob singled him out in yesterday’s preview piece. Now that we’ve all gassed up the little genius, he better deliver!
Bill Preston has written in and has that loving feeling:
It’s one of my favourites sporting days of the year: the opening game.
The first set of matches is such a opportunity for teams to set their stall out and get a stomp on towards victory. The breathless momentum that can carry a team through the tournament can be propped up by the thrilling heroics we have come to expect to see on the pitch.
I love it all.
Here’s looking forward to another great year,
Hear hear Bill.
Just four Welsh players in tonight’s 23 played against South Africa in November, so it’s somewhat of a restart for Gatland tonight.
Club form has been rewarded and Cardiff’s Ben Thomas starts at 10. The Blues have carried the flag this season in the URC and are fifth in the table. Last season no Welsh clubs finished in the top half of the 16-team competition, so there are signs of improvement.
Wales are out to restore pride back in the badge.
So says Daffyd Jenkins, who spoke with Rob Kitson.
The lock, who became the youngest captain in Six Nations history last year, returns after an injury lay-off.
Wales have lost 12 in a row and, to be honest, it’ll probably be 13 by the end of the night. But that doesn’t mean they can’t achieve the goal Jenkins has set for the group.
More from Andy who says that French rugby “needs some Dupont magic”.
It hasn’t been the most harmonious of build ups for the side I’m going to pick now as 2025 grand slam winners (might as well pin your colours to the flag).
Some high profile players have been positively mutinous and the returning skipper’s dazzle could brush away those scandals.
Tonight marks the official start of the 25 years in the Six Nations. It was 2000 when Italy joined the party and shocked defending champions Scotland on the opening night.
Take a look at some of the best photos taken all those years ago:
Wales team news
Jac Morgan finally gets to captain his country at the Six Nations, fullback Liam Williams and centre Josh Adams bring experience in the backline, Dafydd Jenkins returns. It’s not the All Blacks of 2015 but Warren Gatland has a better group than he had last year. Maybe they’ll click?
What that means remains to be seen. There’s a debutant at hooker, a debutant fly-half on the bench and Henry Thomas, who once played for England, plays for Wales for the first time tonight.
“They’ve been outstanding,” Gatland said of his team. “There’s been a good buzz around the group. They’ve been excellent. The next couple of days, it’s about coaches taking a step back and allowing the players to lead.”
Wales: 15 Liam Williams (Saracens); 14 Tom Rogers (Scarlets), 13 Nick Tompkins (Saracens), 12 Owen Watkin (Ospreys), 11 Josh Adams (Cardiff); 10 Ben Thomas (Cardiff), 9 Tomos Williams (Gloucester); 1 Gareth Thomas (Ospreys), 2 Evan Lloyd (Cardiff), 3 Henry Thomas (Scarlets), 4 Will Rowlands (Racing 92), 5 Dafydd Jenkins (Exeter), 6 James Botham (Cardiff), 7 Jac Morgan (Ospreys, captain), 8 Aaron Wainwright (Dragons).
Replacements: Elliot Dee (Dragons), Nicky Smith (Leicester), Keiron Assiratti (Cardiff), Freddie Thomas (Gloucester), Tommy Reffell (Leicester), Rhodri Williams (Dragons), Dan Edwards (Ospreys), Blair Murray (Scarlets).
France team news
Dumack returns after 18 months. I normally hate portmanteaus but the half-back pair of the two Toulouse generals deserves one. Romain Ntamack missed the 2023 World Cup with a knee injury and then 2024 with a twanged calf. He’s back at 10 to reprise his double act with Antoine Dupont.
Bordeaux’s try-machine Damian Penaud is absent, joining centre Gaël Fickou, lock Thibaud Flament and the loose forward Charles Ollivon on the injury list. But it’s still a team stacked with quality and heft.
Pierre-Louis Barassi wins his fourth cap after a four year hiatus while former skipper Grégory Alldritt starts in the back row. Big hitters on a 6-2 bench lie in wait.
France: 15 Thomas Ramos (Toulouse); 14 Théo Attissogbé (Pau), 13 Pierre-Louis Barassi (Toulouse), 12 Yoram Moefana (Bordeaux Bègles), Louis Bielle-Biarrey (Bordeaux Bègles); 10 Romain Ntamack (Toulouse), 9 Antoine Dupont (Toulouse, capt); 1 Jean-Baptiste Gros (Toulon), 2 Peato Mauvaka (Toulouse), 3 Uini Atonio (La Rochelle), 4 Alexandre Roumat (Toulouse), 5 Emmanuel Meafou (Toulouse), 6 François Cros (Toulouse), 7 Paul Boudehent (La Rochelle), 8 Grégory Alldritt (La Rochelle)
Replacements: Julien Marchand (Toulouse), Cyril Baille (Toulouse), Georges-Henri Colombe (La Rochelle), Hugo Auradou (Pau), Mickaël Guillard (Lyon), Oscar Jégou (La Rochelle), Nolann Le Garrec (Racing 92), Émilien Gailleton (Pau).
Preamble
The day has arrived. As Andy Bull said,
“Every Six Nations marks a transition, it begins in the winter and finishes in the spring. One of the reasons it is loved so much is that it fills the bleakest weekends of the year and we know that once it is over the sun will be coming along soon enough.”
This 25th edition feels a little special already. Maybe it’s the the fact that every side has something to prove. Maybe it’s the looming Lions tour. Maybe it’s that at least half the sides will fancy themselves. Maybe it’s the return of the world’s best player.
Is Antoine Dupont the best of all time? It’s a question that’ll run til March, which gives him plenty of time to answer it as he takes aim at a grand slam.
Kicking off in Paris under lights against Wales is possibly the best draw on the table. Which is why Warren Gatland’s troops, despite their dismal run, should feel absolutely no pressure.
Of course they’re playing for a nation’s pride and their own self respect, but no one’s given them a prayer. If they step into that arena and fly into contact, box smart and back themselves, they could leave with heads held high no matter the result.
A great game of any sort will be a fitting launch for a tournament renowned for lifting moods. There’s a ton of negative news in this sport. Having this competition back feels like a treat.
Kick off in Paris 21:15 local time, 20:15 BST.
Team news, updates and more to come.
If you’d like to get in touch and share your thoughts about this match or the Six Nations in general, drop me a mail.
