A compelling Friday-night grapple with France resulted in a second successive narrow Six Nations defeat for Wales, leaving Wayne Pivac and his captain, Dan Biggar, to wonder what might have been.
Wales were on the wrong end of a 23-19 scoreline against England in the previous round, in a far more open encounter, but relentless French defence kept Wales scoreless in the second half at the Principality Stadium. They were restricted to three penalties from the boot of Biggar as France ground out a 13-9 win.
From a Welsh perspective, much post-match analysis focused on a missed chance in the final quarter of an attritional contest. The peerless Wales No 8, Taulupe Faletau, collected a perfectly weighted kick to the wing by Biggar and delivered an instant pass inside to the centre Jonathan Davies.
Agonisingly for Wales, he could not gather the ball with the try-line beckoning. There was no guarantee Davies would have scored a try with Antoine Dupont, the powerful France scrum-half, in position to make a tackle.
“It was a very tight Test match, wasn’t it?” Pivac said. “It came down to one score in the end. They had one opportunity and got it, and we couldn’t quite finish off. Apart from winning the game, we did pretty much what we wanted to do out there to get the result.”
Repeatedly asked if he felt frustrated, Biggar said: “It’s hard to answer the questions in a different way. It’s very, very difficult when there’s games you should have won and you’ve come off second best.
“It’s really pleasing, the way we’ve played. We put a really good shift in and pushed the best team in the world, probably at the moment, and we’ve pushed them to the edge and probably should have picked a win up. But ultimately they’ve got the win and we’re the ones who are disappointed.”
Welsh hopes of defending their Six Nations title had evaporated before Friday night but next Saturday’s final-round meeting with Italy at the Principality Stadium will carry some significance: Biggar is poised to win his 100th Wales cap while Alun Wyn Jones, who will join the playing squad after successful rehabilitation from shoulder surgery, could claim his 150th.
Biggar said: “It’s really important we come back in next week and don’t just use it as a ‘cruise week’ or a week to just get through to the end of the tournament. We’ve got to go and do a job on Italy, not in any disrespectful way at all. We’ve got to concentrate on ourselves and put on a really good performance.
“Apart from the game against Ireland we’ve been right in the mix in games and played some really good stuff so to finish off with a positive result will be huge.”
After a third straight win against Wales – following a sequence of seven defeats in eight – France head back to Stade de France in Paris with a chance to seal a grand slam against England. Les Bleus were depleted by Covid-19 in Cardiff, with Damian Penaud and Romain Taofifénua left at home after testing positive. But the picture painted by the head coach, Fabien Galthié, was of a more serious hit to their playing resources before the match.
“We had a team that was ill, half of them with flu and half of them with Covid,” Galthié said of a squad that are gathering momentum before hosting next year’s World Cup. “But despite the virus the team has managed to get a victory and that’s the most important thing.
“Wales were very tactical and tried to push us back with a lot of very long kicks. We managed to react well to their game. We knew it would be difficult because they have won the competition several times and it’s not by chance.”
Told that Biggar had named them probably the world’s best team, Dupont, the France captain, said: “It’s very flattering to be praised by other teams. But to know who’s the best? We’ll see that later.”
Starting against England in Paris next Saturday night.
