If it wasn’t quite the equivalent of heading for the Louvre and splattering ink across the Mona Lisa, Rio Dyer’s defiant final act in the 2023 Six Nations didn’t exactly please many of those who were in Paris last Saturday.
One gent, in particular, threatened to spontaneously combust or thereabouts, according to reports.
“I've got Shaun Edwards sat behind me here and he is furious,” said Shane Williams in TV commentary as the French took on Wales. “He knows that France have won this game but he's a perfectionist and he will not be happy with that."
‘That’ had seen Dyer fairly rip through tissue-paper defence from Thomas Ramos and Damian Penaud to touch down for Wales’ fourth try. For the French pair, stern words from Edwards awaited. For the seven-cap player who exposed the pair, it was a nice way to finish a campaign in which he showed no little resilience.
Dropped for the game against England after a bumpy experience against Scotland, when he failed to convert a chance just before half-time and had a strip ripped off him by Dan Biggar after throwing a loose pass to the fly-half deep in his own territory, 23-year-old Dyer could easily have lost confidence.
But the Dragons youngster is made of sterner stuff than many had realised and showed as much with tries against Italy and France.
His display in the French capital was a real heart-and-soul job.
Up against an opponent in Penaud who’s seen by some as a World XV player right now, Dyer refused to be awed and chased and covered impressively. There was the odd glitch or two, but the pluses comfortably outweighed the minuses and on the day he played as well as any Wales back.
His efforts caught the eye of Williams, Wales’ greatest wing of the professional era. “If you look at back-three players, he was unlucky not to start every game,” said the scorer of 60 Test tries.
“He was probably our best back-three player.
“Josh Adams was quite quiet. Louis Rees-Zammit drifted in and out of games. Liam Williams, with his experience, did pretty well.
“But Rio Dyer looked hungry. He's very, very busy, sharp and knows his way to the try-line. Defensively, he got stuck in. He's not the biggest of lads but he's aggressive and physical.
“There's a lot to learn and he’s still a young lad, but I certainly enjoy watching him play and I'm glad he had his opportunities. He scored tries in the Six Nations when it was very difficult to score tries for Wales. He definitely has something. I hope he gets a lot more opportunities and I'm sure he will."
The statistics in attack back up Williams’ comments.
Of Wales’ back-three players in the Six Nations, Dyer was joint-first with Liam Williams for tries and outright first for carries, metres and having the ball in hand. He was also second for offloads and breaking tackles.
There are work-ons, with 10 tackles missed over the championship a number he won’t be happy about.
But a couple of dominant defensive interventions against Italy and France once again underlined Dyer’s physical commitment. As Williams says, he is prepared to get stuck in.
What’s also positive about him, as well, is how unaffected he is.
When he strolled into the mixed zone for interviews after scoring a try against Australia in the autumn, he refreshingly looked as if he had given media training a swerve at some point in his youngster days, instead answering every question naturally and with engaging candour.
It was hard not to warm to him as he told how he had been “gutted” to have missed out on selection the week before but had enjoyed the experience of playing for his country and was “hundred percent keen” to hold his place going forward. Wishing him all the best in his endeavours seemed the least a scribe could do as the chat broke up.
In Nice recently, he spoke about how much he still had to learn, saying: "Some of the players you're coming up against have 50-plus caps. You realise the difference between that and someone who is obviously just starting and that you can be exposed.
"You can't really switch off at all, and if you give that 10 per cent less you're going to be punished. That's the main thing I've taken from it. Mistakes are going to be made, but it's about what you do after those mistakes are made. I work on it throughout the week and I'll go to the coaches. I'm here to try and push my game as far as I can go and if the mistakes happen it's my responsibility to put it right."
He has built on his autumn performances, with the certainty being that there’s plenty more to come from the youngster whose former team boss Dean Ryan once told him he was going to be a superstar.
There may be a fair way to travel to achieve such status. But Dyer is on his way, and Wales were better for having him around in the Six Nations.
Wales’ record try scorer Shane Williams is part of the Viaplay TV team bringing every game from the BKT United Rugby Championship throughout the season including the knockout stages and the Grand Final.
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