First-half France masterclass heaps more misery on Wales in Cardiff

I think Serin will feel Galthie’s wrath. France could have potentially made 70. Serin’s ludicrous show back flick pass attempt to LBB at an hour was the end of France trying.

Putting his show off move ahead of his team won’t go down well.

Back in 2009 David Cameron famously described Gordon Brown as “an analogue politician in a digital age”. Well Wales played like an analogue rugby team .. against France's digital team!

Their strategy was also incredibly naive. They tried to play the French at their own fast-paced, offloading game.

Unfortunately their basic skills weren't up to it!

What they should have done is base their game on their set-piece!!

France are an excellent team all round. Well done! Wales showed a lot of fight. Disappointed at Tandy’s game plan. France are exceptional on receipt of kick ball, and scored numerous times when receiving kicks from Wales. Yet Wales persisted in 1st half with that approach. France show weakness around rucks on defence, as they spread out from the ruck and leaves gaps on the fringe. They showed that against SA, again vs Ireland and again today. Wales never attacked that enough in the first half, and started making strides in the 2nd half when they attacked quickly off breakdown ball. France have a very quick line speed on defense, and often try to shut down the outside man. Yet no attacking chips over the oncoming line or grabbers through the line for Wales to chase. It worked for SA against France. That said, encouraged by Wales showing. They got many of the basics right, with the exception of kick-off receipts - when they never challenged them or never received them well, France were all over it.

Jalibert is certainly doing his best to ensure that Ntamack will not just walk back into the starting XV. Two great games in succession for him.

Olivon continues to underline his status as a world class player. Apart from his obvious physical abilities, he has always impressed me as a singularly intelligent rugby player.

The rest of the French team is filled with world class players. As for depth, I’d say they are second only to South Africa, and that “only” is actually “only just”…

PS: is there any substance to the rumour that Posolo Tuilagi is being considered as a future tighthead? Atonio’s retirement lends credence to it, but tighthead is a singularly demanding position technically; being big and strong is a sine qua non, but not nearly enough. Can an international class lock be successfully converted to an international #3?

The ball in play seemed very high! Not a lot of rest between the prolonged phases.

The attack prevailed in both teams, which was enjoyable and quite entertaining.

Could have been 68 points for France, but also 20+ for Wales, and either wouldn’t have been undeserved.

I’d love that Welsh team to better up soon, it’s key for such a great nation to come back to their heights. And seeing their interesting showings in the U20 competitions, I hope they’ll build just like Italy did a few years back when Garbisi&co came in.

I liked how they played today and wish them the best for the rest of the 6 Nations!