En-route to the tryline: Alex Cuthbert
Related links
Teams
Also see
Wales beat France 16-9 in a tight battle at the Millennium Stadium on Saturday to complete the Grand Slam in fine style.
Wing Alex Cuthbert scored the only try of an enthralling battle to help the home side to their third Slam in eight years.
The occasion had an extra poignancy for Welsh rugby following the death of 1976 Grand Slam skipper Mervyn Davies on Thursday a few will deny they deserved victory in Cardiff over a combative but unimaginative French team.
Cuthbert's try helped Wales to a 10-3 lead at half time while Leigh Halfpenny added the conversion and three penalties over the course of the 80 minutes.
All of France's points came from the boot of half-backs Lionel Beauxis and Dimitri Yachvili. Indeed French fans will be left frustrated by the lack of positive intent or creativity from their side.
But the day was about Wales and their ability to hold their nerve under pressure. And there was no lack of it as les Bleus came desperately close to forcing their way over in the closing minutes.
While the Welsh attack has been a talking point over the last six week, it was their defence that impressed most with Jonathan Davies and Dan Lydiate leading the charge.
Referee Craig Joubert was taking a strict approach to the breakdown area and ruck infringements gave Yachvili and Rhys Priestland each an early opportunity to kick at goal.
The French scrum-half opened the scoring but Priestland's reply found the post.
Wales were soon in front however when Cuthbert scored a fabulous try from quick turnover ball, showing a neat step in between Julien Bonnaire and William Servat before tearing towards the unguarded tryline. Halfpenny took over the kicking duties and had no problems with the conversion.
A powerful Welsh scrum was at the origin of further points seven minutes before the break as it gave Davies a head start to put pressure on Beauxis, who spilt his pass in contact and the home side were awarded a penalty when Alexis Palisson was forced to hang on while cleaning up.
Halfpenny should have added another three points on the stroke of half-time but this time it was his turn to strike the woodwork.
Sam Warburton did not return to the field after the break and the French held the momentum early in the second period.
Beauxis narrowed the gap to four points from the kicking tee but squandered an easy chance to get les Bleus within a point when he missed his fourth drop goal attempt of the tournament.
Halfpenny thumped over a penalty from 52 metres out to restore Wales' advantage as France persisted with their kick-orientated game, though replacement Jean-Marcellin Buttin came close to scoring when collecting a cross-field kick from Beauxis.
The visitors piled on the pressure in the closing stages and Imanol Harinordoquy will rue his decision to cut inside when he had Louis Picamoles on his outside and the tryline within range.
Joubert gave the visitors a penalty and their negative attitude was summed up in the decision to take three rather than seek a try to level the game.
The final minutes were inevitably fraught from a Welsh perspective, but Halfpenny held his nerve to add one last penalty and kick off a massive party.
Man of the match: Wales flank Dan Lydiate put in yet another immense tackling display and must be considered a candidate for Player of the Tournament.
Moment of the match: There was nothing to choose between the teams in the opening stages before Alex Cuthbert's try put Wales ahead. From then on France were chasing the game and Wales always seemed in control.
Villain of the match: No bad guys here. Let the party commence!
The scorers:
For Wales
Try: Cuthbert
Con: Halfpenny
Pens: Halfpenny 3
For France:
Pens: Yachvili 2, Beauxis
Wales: 15 Leigh Halfpenny, 14 Alex Cuthbert, 13 Jonathan Davies, 12 Jamie Roberts, 11 George North, 10 Rhys Priestland, 9 Mike Phillips, 8 Toby Faletau, 7 Sam Warburton (c), 6 Dan Lydiate, 5 Ian Evans, 4 Alun Wyn Jones, 3 Adam Jones, 2 Matthew Rees, 1 Gethin Jenkins.
Replacements: 16 Ken Owens, 17 Paul James, 18 Luke Charteris, 19 Ryan Jones, 20 Lloyd Williams, 21 James Hook, 22 Scott Williams
France: 15 Clement Poitrenaud, 14 Wesley Fofana, 13 Aurélien Rougerie, 12 Florian Fritz, 11 Alexis Palisson, 10 Lionel Beauxis, 9 Dimitri Yachvili, 8 Imanol Harinordoquy, 7 Julien Bonnaire, 6 Thierry Dusautoir (c), 5 Yohann Maestri, 4 Pascal Pape, 3 David Attoub, 2 William Servat, 1 Jean-Baptiste Poux.
Replacements: 16 Dimitri Szarzewski, 17 Vincent Debaty, 18 Julien Pierre, 19 Louis Picamoles, 20 Morgan Parra, 21 François Trinh-Duc, 22 Jean-Marcellin Buttin
Venue: Millennium Stadium, Cardiff
Referee: Craig Joubert (South Africa)
Assistant referees: Wayne Barnes (England), Stuart Terheege (England)
Television match official: Iain Ramage (Scotland)
Comments
damo says...
@Ramage says...
He also was totally biased for Ireland to beat Italy he tried to give us loads of points and was unfair on Italy I am sure he was looking to win money on Ireland hammering Italy as if I had I wouldn't have done any better in giving points to Ireland
Posted 20:40 23rd March 2012
Ramage says...
@jontheref thanks for the time in posting next years draw. Is it out already? However it will be a whole new ball game and teams will have moved on either for better or worse. Unfortunately we cant recreate the present situation. June tests England v South Africa in the Republic, Wales v Australia in OZ, Ireland v NZ in Aotearoa and Argentinav France in Argentina will give us much to talk about before the new SH tournament kicks off and will no doubt start off the ifs and buts again. Scotland does have a game against Australia in OZ and plays Cook Islands Hmm and Italy play Argentina, Canada and USA. I suppose if you are at the bottom of the 6Nations not much is going for you.
Posted 12:19 21st March 2012
Ramage says...
@carpelone 25c in Rome and Scotland felt it lol just as well they are not playing in Perth when our temperatures are still in the mid 30s at 7 at night id hate to see them then. However I can appreciate the difference after my move frae the grey auld toon of Hawick in the Borders to the more sunny climate of Perth in WA where temperatures of 40c can be had in summer and autumn.
@sirjona yes totally agree it is the way the cookie crumbles and believe that is another way of putting it. I enjoyed the way the Welsh played coached by a Kiwi but have always been amazed at how the country with the most registered players in world rugby have produced such a poor return in results. As I've often said the way the English U20 side played good rugby in last years competition which shows the players are there all that is needed is the coaches with vision.
@damo isnt it amazing how differently you see things Trin Duc released the ball lol he threw the ball away and was liable to be penalised and was penalised and rightly so. Of course Joubert is a cheat he must be you said so. What a joke now he chooses to give games away to the countries he favours so far its NZ and Wales well lets see who else. No doubt he will referee a game between Wales and Australia as there are three and being the current number 1 referee in ranking a game of this level is sure to have Joubert refereeing one of them. Referees get things wrong and we can rightfully criticise them but these negative conspiracy calls that referees go out to cheat is just so wrong and always thrown around by disgruntled fans who often have no idea of how the laws are interpreted
Posted 13:08 19th March 2012
APV1 says...
CONGRATULATIONS! Well deserved and a great result.
@ Ramage - I've asked the same question myself. England have been improving game-on-game. The Welsh were always this good. A match now would be interesting...
But take nothing away from our Welsh cousins - awesome. I can't agree that all 15 would be in the starting line up for the Lions, but there'll be plenty of Welsh boyos on the plane. And rightly so.
Posted 12:24 19th March 2012
7ton says...
Carpelone
re your comment about Wales and the RWC.
I think that the difference here is that in the 6 nations Wales have shown that they can close out tight games which is what they didn't do in the WC. They were just inches away from making the final. Had they done so I don't think they would have beaten NZ but their performance in this WC was a huge improvement on the previous.
I think Wales have the making of a very good team here and hopefully they can go on and get some victories over the SH teams
Posted 11:48 19th March 2012
jontheref says...
ramage
Got your wish for next season.
February 2: Wales v Ireland, 1.30pm and England v Scotland, 4pm
February 3: Italy v France, 3pm
February 9: Scotland v Italy, 2.30pm and France v Wales, 5pm
February 10: Ireland v England, 3pm
February 23: Italy v Wales, 2.30pm and England v France, 5pm
February 24: Scotland v Ireland, 2pm
March 9: Scotland v Wales, 2.30pm and Ireland v France, 5pm
March 10: England v Italy, 3pm
March 16: Italy v Ireland, 2.30pm, Wales v England, 5pm and France v Scotland, 8pm
Posted 08:57 19th March 2012
Chancer says...
Time for France to have a clear out, I am sure Mr Lancaster could advise piglet on how it is done, please bring back Freddie!
Joubert rubbish again, I will say again, can we have some consistency.
Wales just did enough, but consider if Lawes had not lost the ball and Strettle had scored then it would be Englang with the GS. Before they get carried away , as usual, let us see how they do against Australia.
Posted 07:58 19th March 2012
jose_jones says...
@ Damo,.... get a grip of yourself fella,.. :)
Posted 07:20 19th March 2012
thedragonroars says...
well done wales a deserved grand slam.damo i agree butt did u see yachvili kick the ball out ov falatau,s hands at the back ov the scrum twice.lucks got nothing to do with it u always play the ref.
Posted 20:47 18th March 2012
Kiwidiver says...
Being a southern fellow, it is fair to say that I don't pay enough attention to the 6 Nations as perhaps I should. But I can't tell you how happy I am that Wales were able to complete the Grand Slam this year.
After the raw deal this team got at the RWC last year, it is like karma has flexed it's cosmic muscle to make everything right in the universe.... and how poetic that it was France that they subdued to complete the result.
After being robbed of a rightful pool victory against SA, then some questionable calls in the semi against France (Warburton's yellow card for a starter), there is no doubt in my mind that this Welsh team were the ones that deserved to be wrestling the ABs for the Ellis Trophy at Eden Park last October.
Congratulations to Sam Warburton and his fellow Dragons. I'm only sorry that I wasn't there to be part of what must have been an unbelieveable atmosphere at an incredible venue.
Posted 20:16 18th March 2012
ScottyBruiser says...
@Damo: Can I have some of whatever you've been drinking?
Posted 15:08 18th March 2012
melkdave says...
@Rosbif
LOL yeah i know everyone goes on about the player depth of England they tend to forget France have just as big a pool of players lol
Posted 14:36 18th March 2012
blametheref says...
It was this game alone that defined Wales' season. Up to it Wales had more than their fair share of luck but yesterday it was a different story. Poise, calmness, every player playing for each other and some fine rugby the way the game should be played puts them on merit only 2nd to New Zealand in real terms...Totally worthy Grand Slam winners, the next step is for Wales to go to the SH and come home unbeaten, then it could be on for Wales to be the next World Cup winners
Posted 13:28 18th March 2012
damo says...
Joubert???? Can someone please tell this clown that the reason rugby is called a "sport" is that it is a cnotest between 2 teams to see which one wins he handed this game to Wales on a plate, anyone notice Trin Duc at 7 ppoints down was tackled into touch and he released the ball not even over the hoarding, this was immediately called a pen 15 metres in and gifted Halfpenny the buffer of 10 points ensuring the grand slam would come to fruition, my uneducated opinion here is this guy wanted Wales to win the grand slam my next question is why? I recall he gave free kicks to French scrums within the Wales 22 in the second half for no apparent reason, a France Line out 5 metres from the Wales line was given to Wales by the touch judge?? Last time I saw something so conspicious was the Ireland Wales spear debackle from Barnes and Pearson, so here goes, why do some of the senior referees want Wales to win the 6 nations? In the Ireland game Tupiric was off his feet playing the ball with 5 mins to go and Barnes awarded them the pen which was kicked to touch and the result was a try Wales to bring them within 1. These top rated officials need to be questioned as Rugby is being ruined by their syndicate and the question needs to be asked is there any betting irregularities or are they just not able for their job and if the latter lets get rid of them, in honesty only Declan Kidney would select these idiots for the team of officials as he is clueless.
Terrible terrible 6 nations but well done wales ye were the most consistent team and took advantage of a little luck and some hard work to win, also Gatland what a manager IRFU are doing a great job getting rid of this guy and getting in 2 of the worst managers in the history of the Irish team!!!
Sad for the Irish players $exton told to play deep ??? Kidney can only answer why he choses to play behind the gain line
Posted 12:09 18th March 2012
sirjona says...
@ ramage I agree but I would also like to have seen Wales play England in the first games when they were dire against Italy and Scotland. That's the way the cookie crumbled mate.
Posted 11:55 18th March 2012
Toulousain says...
Can I just say bravo les diables rouges. Not so many Welsh on this page yet. Still dancing and drinking!! Cardiff such fantastic city to play. All the fans fantastic. Wales good winners. France for once not so bad losers. All good spirit.
Posted 11:45 18th March 2012
Toulousain says...
@malaprade. what a wonderful sunny day that was in wembley!!! but the clip misses one of the best movements of the game. before the thomas lievremont try from 5m scrum, i remember castaignede almost scores solo from 60 metres by running around neil jenkins and throught the welsh centres. THAT was something.
the garbajosa try to finish was also special.
the backline that day: 9 carbonneau, 10 castaignede, 11 garbajosa, 12 glas, 13 titou, 14 b-salles, 15 sadourny.
how different to the backline that finished at millenium yesterday: 9 yach, 10 parra, 11 buttin, 12 fritz, 13 roro, 14 fofana, 15 FTD (hardly one player in the right position!!!)
Posted 11:38 18th March 2012
pog_mahone says...
well done Wales, any chance Aadam Jones has an Irish granny?
Posted 11:36 18th March 2012
Rosbif says...
@bambo. 100% agree, it's tempting to keep Hari and Yach as spine at 8 and 9. Although he has many detractors, Fra look more composed with Yach at 9 imo. Doussain is not getting game time at ST. Dupuy looks a spent force. Parra good but with limitations. There's no-one really ready to grab the shirt... (also can't wait for edinburgh in the spring, although without Clerc, Medard and Poitrenaud, and Dusautoir on half a leg....)
@melkdave. the funny thing is, as you probably know (!), we could name another 15 kids who would be as good as my hypothetical U26 team eg Ric at prop, Samson and Chouly locks, Lapandry Galan Nyanga back row, Plante, Andreu out wide etc etc. Fra doesn't lack for talent. That's always been the problem. Laporte, ML now PSA all "spoilt for choice".. Just need consistency in selection of starting XV and some game time....
@isthatrightref. :-) I think Roro will focus (with Bonnaire) on trying to win HCup with ASM. Then he's done. So we're unlikely to ever see him on the same piece of grass as 15 ABs looking to tear him limb from limb.
@justice. thks. I'm starting to plan flights to Cape Town for the U20 RWC. Shame it'll be winter. But still, will be a chance to get out the braai.....(and maybe some decent local refreshment from the Constantia valley!!)
Posted 11:15 18th March 2012
Guffa says...
There's been a lot of one-eyed stuff posted on various message boards, but I think the table truly reflects the tournament. Scotland need to stop making excuses as they should be doing a whole lot better, Italy remain limited but are committed and wily, France and Ireland were both inconsistent, England improved hugely on the RWC, but were ultimately rightly behind the most consistent, professional and complete rugby side that in every match did what was necessary to win.
There's still a lot of bitterness about what could have been, but it's all moot. If I have to hear any more about David "it was definitely a try" Strettle (despite any unequivocal evidence to support it from a myriad of cameras) and "England battering Wales" (Tom Croft), then I'll do my nut. The facts of that game were that Wales dominated at first, England dominated the middle bit, Wales came back into the game and a bit of magic settled it. Surely that's what test rugby is all about? Anyway, rehashing old arguments - I've been drawn into it when I should be celebrating. For the record, I think England have finished the tourney excellently, and how they've not given Lancaster the job already is baffling, but not atypical. (he also seems an extremely nice, balanced and fair bloke)
As for yesterday, France were vicious in defence but generally woeful and unambitious in attack and for the second week running, it disrupted Wales' ambitions BUT they found a way to win, and as a Welsh supporter of nearly 40 years old, I hated the "moral victory" crap of talented but losing Welsh teams. Give me a team that can play expansive rugby AND winning rugby any day of the week, especially as that has meant 3 of the best Millennium Stadium Days of my life in the last 8 years. (btw the French fans were brilliant yesterday - knowledgeable, gracious and drunk - perfect).
Right, time to eat off this hangover.
Posted 11:09 18th March 2012