A dominant forward performance allowed Wales to win in Paris with a helping hand from French inaccuracies.
In the opening weeks of this tournament the Welsh set piece report card has been marked ‘cause for concern. However, the Welsh eight fronted up against France and were ‘satisfactory’ to say the least.
Wales vs France: Dominant Pack Helps Wales win in Paris
An area of concern going into the game was how Wales would fare against a giant French pack but they achieved parity and at times dominance of their rivals.
The scrum was strong with Samson Lee back, Luke Charteris and Alun-Wyn Jones helped to give Wales 100% lineout success. This was helped by Scott Baldwin’s good throwing; turned a traditional weakness for the Welsh into a strength, with the driving maul becoming a weapon in the second half.
When Wales do achieve parity up front they are difficult to stop as their giant backs begin to get momentum.
This is exactly what happened on the weekend and Jamie Roberts had his best game for some time in a Welsh shirt as he caused problems for the French all game.
Roberts was Wales’ top ball carrier with 11 carries, this is always a sign that Wales have dominated the game. Roberts barely carried in the England fixture because Wales had very little ball, however, against France he carried hard from minute one.
This pressure was converted into points by the metronomic Leigh Halfpenny, successful with all bar one of his six attempts.
Wales often take Halfpenny for granted but when the opposition is as inaccurate as France were from the boot, it makes Wales remember that Halfpenny is worth his weight in gold.
This is shown by the fact that France could have been 15-6 up after 52 minutes had they been more accurate from the boot.
The little men of the back line dominated the aerial battle for Wales, Halfpenny and Dan Biggar rising to regain the high ball successfully on several occasions. This imperious form in the air will have to be continued in two weeks’ time to have any chance against the heavy kicking tactics of the Irish.
France also attempted a kicking tactic on the weekend but it was very poor. At international level, if a player kicks possession away, they have to be accurate in either finding touch or having a chance to regain possession.
France made less kicks from hand than Wales but their accuracy was well off. Camille Lopez persisted with chip kicks over the Welsh blitz defence which were comfortably dealt with by Rhys Webb and Jon Davies sweeping behind. This inaccuracy gifted possession back to Wales.
Webb caused trouble from scrum-half and his break created the Dan Biggar try. The real plaudits should go to Dan Lydiate whose beautiful pass created the try. Lydiate is often criticised for being ‘just a tackler’ but that pass showed real skill.
Wales will need to show more of this attacking flair against Ireland if they are to put any dents in the huge points difference that the men in green hold over them.
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