Wales v France: Talking points as France ease clear of Wales in Cardiff

France were the victors of their arm-wrestle with Wales, with François Ratier’s side leaving the Cardiff Arms Park with a 38-7 win that keeps them on England’s tracks in the Women’s Six Nations.

While Wales managed to hold France to a seven-point tie at half-time, the Les Bleues turned the heat on after the break and scored five uncontested tries to award them a bonus-point win.

The Welsh maul rocks

Can you hear that? The sound of an ocean of thundering Welsh feet marching vigorously? Well, the French not only heard it but were also on the receiving end of the Welsh driving maul, conceding one try and several penalties.

As happened already against Scotland, the Welsh forward pack understood the assignment and applied heavy pressure from the driving maul, winning several metres and creating several scoring opportunities.

With Kelsey Jones steering the Welsh maul with the stillness of a 15th-century helmsman in the middle of a storm, the locals bullied the French pack for 65 minutes, keeping them competitive throughout the game.

The driving maul was a feature of Sean Lynn’s successful tenure as Gloucester Hartpury head coach, and it seems as though it will act as one of the conduits of the Welsh resurgence, having made an impact against Scotland and France.

‘Joue, joue’ cracked under pressure

While France is widely recognised as having one of the most flamboyant and exciting approaches towards playing the game, the Les Bleues again weren’t at their best in terms of their attacking and ball handling, conceding 18 handling mistakes.

From missed passes and offloads to losing control of the ball on the ground, the visiting side looked unrecognisable, lost in a swamp of handling errors that emboldened the Welsh to believe they could come out as winners.

Be it due to miscommunication, a lack of vision, or the absence of key players like Joanna Grisez, France were unable to effectively counter the massive Welsh defensive effort for most of the game.

What was more staggering was the inability to adapt to the opposition, constantly trying to do the same thing without achieving any significant results.

With the match against England not far away, François Ratier needs to find solutions to what is increasingly looking like a critical problem for France’s aspirations to win the Six Nations.

Fortunately for the French staff, Pauline Bourdon Sansus managed to salvage an uninspired Les Bleues afternoon, gifting her team a bonus-point win.

Sound the alarms, Gabrielle Vernier is out

After losing Joanna Grisez in the competition’s opener, France might’ve lost another one of their main cogs, as Gabrielle Vernier was forced to come off early in the second half.

The French centre, who was one of her side’s best performers at the Cardiff Arms Park, sustained what seemed to be a shoulder injury and was replaced by Teani Feleu.

In the opening 40 minutes, Vernier had clinched a jackal that stopped Wales on its tracks, giving her side some breathing space when they were close to conceding another try.

Despite the Les Bleues failing to connect their attacking game, Vernier’s sacrifice and effort were massive to help her side clinch a win against a spirited Welsh team.

If the worst is confirmed with Vernier, François Ratier will need to devise a new centre partnership during the Six Nations tournament, a herculean task with Ireland, Scotland and England in the way.

Second halves and Wales, a non-working combo

After pushing Scotland into a corner and coming close to earning their first Six Nations win in almost two years, Wales were capable of throwing down the gauntlet against France and headed into halftime with a seven-point tie.

The combination of a super-defensive performance and an insatiable driving maul gave the hosts control of their destiny in the opening half. However, the game changed dramatically after the break, with Pauline Bourdon Sansus pulling the strings to put the side ahead, while the home side suffered a severe dip in form.

A concerning statistic highlighting the contrast between the first and second halves is the number of penalties: Sean Lynn’s team gave away just two in the initial 40 minutes, but ended up conceding over four times that amount during the last portion of the match.

While it is undeniable that France deserved a precious bonus-point win, the Welsh team’s final 40 minutes were concerning, showing the same issues as against Scotland. Can they correct course for what remains of their Six Nations campaign?