France 43
Wales 0
WINGERS LOUIS BIELLE-BIARREY and Theo Attissogbe both scored twice as Six Nations favourites France started the tournament with a comfortable home win over Wales on Friday.
Bielle-Biarrey and Attissogbe made their contributions in a 22-minute first-half spell, putting down a statement for France’s title hopes before the hosts finished the game down a man following a late Romain Ntamack red card making him a doubt for next Saturday’s trip to England.
The defeat marked a record-extending 13th straight Test loss for Wales and a first failure to score a single point in a game since 2007, increasing pressure on coach Warren Gatland before heading to perennial under-achievers Italy next weekend.
Les Bleus coach Fabien Galthie named Oscar Jegou and Hugo Auradou on the bench for their first Test since they were investigated over rape claims last year before they were dismissed.
When Jegou and Auradou’s names were read out pre-match in-front of 77,000 fans they were welcomed with cheers by the vocal crowd. But they were met by boos and whistles when they came off the bench.
Scrum-half Antoine Dupont skippered the hosts after missing last season’s Six Nations to focus on playing seven-a-side rugby at the Olympic Games in Paris.
Gatland, in his 150th game in charge of Wales, recalled experienced full-back Liam Williams and winger Josh Adams as the New Zealander looked to claim a first international win since October 2023.
The buzzing pre-match atmosphere stepped up a gear with the anthems and an acapella version of La Marseillaise with the home support in an expectant mood for the fixture and the Championship as a whole.
Les Bleus underlined their favourites tags for not just the game but the tournament, crossing the Wales line after after just four minutes but Dupont was held up and the visitors cleared their lines.
Wales won a free-kick at the first scrum of the game on 10 minutes, allowing them to venture into France’s territory, highlighting an early possible impact by former prop Adam Jones in his role as a consultant at the set-piece.
- Dupont the provider -
Wales’ ascendancy was short-lived before Dupont provided his 35th try assist in 56 Tests setting up Attissogbe in the corner with a delicate cross kick.
Full-back Thomas Ramos converted to leapfrog Christophe Lamaison as France’s second highest scorer.
By the half-hour mark Les Bleus had doubled their lead as Ramos set up Bielle-Biarrey for his 17th try in as many games for club and country this season.
Wales’ hopes for an unlikely first win against France since 2019 were hindered as hooker Evan Lloyd, on his first international start, was shown a sin-binned for a high tackle on Bielle-Biarrey.
Dupont provided two further masterous assists before the interval to set-up Attissogbe again and Bielle-Biarrey for their doubles as France led 28-0 at the break, with France in total control.
It was Wales’ heaviest deficit at the 40-minute mark since trailing 29-0 to the same opponents in 1998, a game which ended 51-0.
The hosts returned from half-time lethargic, seeming to be happy with their advantage.
It played into Wales’ hands as they made good gains into France’s 22m after an Adams break down the left wing but a knock-on from lock Dafydd Jenkins gave the home side the chance to clear.
With half an hour to play and the result beyond doubt Dupont was replaced by Nolann Le Garrec in six changes made at once by Galthie.
Replacements Julien Marchand and centre Emilien Gailleton both crossed for tries before Ntamack’s error with 11 minutes to go.
In his first Test appearance since August 2023, Ntamack was shown a yellow upgraded to red for a high hit on opposition No 10 Ben Thomas.
With two minutes to play France No 8 and man-of-the-match Gregory Alldritt rubbed salt into Wales’ wounds by crossing from short range in a clinical display from Les Bleus.
Ya the French won easy and result never in doubt but…..
That ref was hopelessly inept. 50/50 always to France, at least 10 obvious penalties ignored gor Wales. Just not good enough in our 6N
@Noel Lynn: to not even TMO check the high tackle one was bad…
@Noel Lynn: stop blaming the ref, could have Nigel Owens reffing and they’d still have been hammered.
@Noel Lynn: ref gave them 2 warnings for a yellow and after that Wales were pinged for a croc roll and no yellow. Williams was just very easy going all round.
@Noel Lynn: Absolutely. Wales never got a break all night. Dupont is so good now that he’s allowed to throw forward passes and knock on with impunity. I mean, that pass for the 2nd try was as forward as you’ll ever see. Dupont was outside the 5 metre line when he threw it, and the winger was almost on the try line when he caught it.
@Aidan Farrell: agreed but Ref gave every 50/50 to France which ruined the game but not the result !
@Noel Lynn: Very true
@Ray Ridge: clear knock on ref didnt even check it lots other decisions as well poor ref
@Noel Lynn: I Dono how to politely say ur wrong! Excellent ref performance.
@Seanie: Yes, clear knock on by dupont minutes after that clear forward pass. They were so obvious that they shouldn’t even require checks. Dupont has the officials wrapped around his thumb.
@Ray Ridge: I cant be putting up with agreeing with u im sure tommorry it be back to normal lol
@Sean O’Maolain: I think the ref made lots of wrong calls but the result was never in doubt.
@Con Cussed: 100 percent Con
@Sean O’Maolain: You clearly have no clue of the rules of rugby…why are you even commenting here…the ref was absolutely shocking…talk about home town decisions
@John Molloy: A croc roll can be adjudicated as dangerous foul play and worthy of a yellow without a team warning
@Noel Lynn: agreed,Wales were beaten out the gate. But he was so biased it was frightening,the blatant red card which he bottled out of,the high hit on Adams,resulting in a bloody nose even the last Welsh yellow with 3 mins to go. Just 3 examples plenty more
@Noel Lynn: I totally agree with you. He was totally bias in France favour. He only penalised them once in the first half – seems incredible.
@Noel Lynn: absolutely Noel, refs favorites bias evident all night. Just to highlight Mack’s point.
@Michael Corkery: Agree.
Wales did their best but were playing against 16. Forward passes, high tackles not penalised. What was the TMO doing.
@conor carroll: Ref was useless
@Seanie: ref was excellent. Don’t be that guy bud!
Ntamack was filthy there, I thought. He got emptied in a tackle few mins before that, and I wonder was it the same man. Sean O’brien said before he doesn’t like the physical stuff. He riled me there. I hope he gets banned for a few games.
@James Murphy: Deserved the straight red. Ref no bottle with off-field check. Down right dirty and silly – first game back in 15 months but I think they will be ok with Ramos, Jalibert etc. Ramos must be most accurate kicker over last 3 years, most of those conversions were sideline too. CMON IRELAND!
Wales played decent for wales . France easy win in the end i did 50 points win was close they will hammer england next week
@Seanie: They did try but were allway’s going get well beat
@Seanie: In England they will face a pack that’s considerably bigger than the one they faced tonight. I think the French will win but can’t see it being as easy as tonight.
@TL55: Wont be as easy for sure england much better than wales but i fancy france to win easy
@Seanie: Take one weekend at a time in relation to England. Such haughty shit that you come out with. Wales going through torrid time but patronising them like you do is just plain disrespectful. Ditto to England. Luckily your message will not transmit – it is hardly English you write and few will understand such jumbled up diarrhea. If posting on a public platform learn to write with some element of cogency. Stuff like this is why people are starting to dislike us in the rugby universe.
@JJB: another fool.mutted thanks
@JJB: You are one rude person mutted and get a life
@Seanie: Just ignore them mate
@JJB: Dont think he was patronising at all wales did give it a go.
@JJB: The irony
@Teddy O neill: So rude he is calling name’s mutted
@Seanie: Lets talk fools. A guy who takes on different iterations every few weeks. Change images every few weeks. Doesn’t know how to spell or write . Disparages other countries with impunity. Give me a break.
By the way, the correct spelling is muted….. a child in first class would master that. Your effort at spelling the word has a totally different connotation. Lastly, I didn’t call you a name before or are you incapable of reading as well? Lastly, thank you for muting me – mission accomplished.
@Teddy O neill: you won’t say that if you were Welsh . Look at the honors list. We need to be more respectful and circumspect when posting comments about our rivals. Wales have 12 grand slams versus our 4. We need to remenber this and not patronise proud rugby nations.
@JJB: Nah… you have crossed the line with turning debate into personal slanging matches once too often. I have resisted the temptation for a long time now because I genuinely believe that you have interesting things to say but you just never learned how to control your emotions and end up taking someone’s opinion as a personal attack on your intelligence!! I can live without hearing your opinion from now. You have just joined my exclusive club of muted mutts!!
@Paul Ennis: i just call things as I see it . Emotion and the 42 are not an interesection point for me. This Seanie guy has been peddling nonsense for ages using impenetrable English and glib remarks. I thought you respected all rugby nations and admonish those who write ignorant condescending remarks. Obviously not. I believe in certain standards of writing and respect. As for this muting stuff, I really don’t care. It is clear to me that this platform’s general predisposition is towards vacuous BS. You write quite well to be fair to you and provide interesting insights. This makes you an outlier here.
@JJB: “i dont care”… Then proceeds to hammer o
@aaron brady: ??
Fair play Wales, about 6 entries inside the opposition ’22 this time. I could watch that country get hammered every week. France are a classy classy side and played them off the park even without being full strength.
I feel sorry for Gats. Welsh Rugby is gone. A pub team. For his own self respect I hope he resigns in the morning.
@Aidan Farrell: I don’t feel in the least bit sorry for ‘Gats’…delighted he’s getting hammered every time he puts a team out
@Aidan Farrell: the guy’s been a busted flush for years. Stealing a living he is.
Brave effort for a while but a beating was always on the cards. Not nice to see them whitewashed,big problems in Welsh rugby
Worst Wales team in 6 nation history.
Hard to know about France. Take Dupont out of the team and not very intimidating.
Agree on ref, not up to it. Inept.
@Brian Flynn: DuPont is their attack strategy. Completely different team without him. Never good to be that dependent on one player- amazing player that he is
Warren “right Wales off at your perl”
Ya, no bother Warren. Lol!
@Sean O’Maolain: Write and Peril. Reilly would be disgusted if he was/were here.
@Ray Ridge: Too many creamy creamy guinness’ I’m afraid Ray. You know what that’s like, cause u talk pure scutterr most weeks. Lol :)
@Ray Ridge: was/were here
@Ray Ridge: You talkin’ bout me kid?.
Some of you guys have learned nothing from the Chris Busby affair! All those points of contention that have been mentioned are reviewed in the background by the TMO. Allez Les Bleus – let’s see what tomorrow brings in the Aviva!
@Keno: Hansen’s comments were directed at officials. Based on the way he worded them he was definitely taking aim at TMO’s as well as refs. For me the TMO was too quiet tonight. There nothing wrong with objective criticism however abusive criticism is not acceptable. If everyone stays quiet and excepts poor standards then things won’t improve.
@Keno: ask the Leinster players about Busby’s trip into their dressing room before the game. If he didn’t jump he was getting pushed
Even without ntamack, I doubt France are worried. Can throw Ramos in, or Jalibert, hell even DuPont will do a serious number there
@JamesK: Dupont tried that against Leinster a few years back…it did not go well for him
The failure to even look at Dupont’s pass for the third try is disappointing. It was a mile forward. What is a TMO for if that’s not being checked. Either it was a blatant home town decision or it again confirms the lie to the claim that the TMO has access to pictures beyond what the French producer wants seen. Getting it right would have made no difference to Wales but other matches are decided by moments like that.
Wales just couldn’t cope with the French. However felt the Ref missed a lot of lazy runners etc. when Wales were attacking. It wouldn’t have made a difference but might have narrowed the scoreline. Red card could help us but overall a boring predictable opener.
How good is the lad
Shocking from Wales. France did’nt even get out of 3rd gear.
My take is that the score line misrepresents. France not that good and Wales not that bad. Time will tell of course. Wales played with a lot of commitment which in time with proper coaching and restructuring will re elevate them. Proud rugby nations going through a painful hiatus.
Fire Gatland immediately. Wales are becoming a farce. The clubs have always been poor but Wales were always strong. His current tenure has to be the worst record of any top rugby nation in history. Fire and move on to greener pastures
Gatland walking the Green Mile
It’s easy to forget that Gatland had to remove his name from the Lion’s HC job or the committee would have selected him to be running the tour this year. It’s not a good Welsh team but he’s offering nothing as a HC