Wales v France (not Italy)

[Sandydragon]

good from wales again

That was probably our best but if attacking play all campaign

[morepork]

Jeez that Olivon is a smart flanker.

[Banquo]

good from wales again

That was probably our best but if attacking play all campaign

excellent last 10.

[Banquo]

Anyway, we knew this was never about the score.

The challenge now has to be keeping it somewhere nearer to 38-19 than 58-7.

good call

[Banquo]

good second half....did they win it?

[Sandydragon]

Well we’re we’re well beaten by a better team, but that’s the best we have played all championship and we can have a lot of pride in that performance.

We lost by only 13 points and got a BP. And at times we were dangerous with ball in hand.

That was. Long way from the slaughter that everyone feared.

[UKHamlet]

Good fight back but France were always too strong. Pride in that performance though.

[Sourdust]

I can't recall feeling this positive after what was, after all, a comfortable defeat.

But that was SO much better. Loads of things still wrong, but we looked like a team who had the right to be on that pitch with France, and I'm not sure I expected that.

[pompey-zebra]

I can't recall feeling this positive after what was, after all, a comfortable defeat.

But that was SO much better. Loads of things still wrong, but we looked like a team who had the right to be on that pitch with France, and I'm not sure I expected that.

We were saying the same in the pub here in Pompey.. France were the better side but after the campaign we've had, a try bonus point and being at least within sight of the team that ranked 2nd in the world is something to build on at least.

[UKHamlet]

Now on to the minnows.

[Buggaluggs]

Great second half. 3 converted tries a piece. We probably benefited from France playing a bit of 7s rugby with a big lead. France were always comfortable. Still, our heads didn't drop and we didn't let the game get ugly.

[normanski]

Gatland probably now knows the main skeleton of his team for RWC and he can build on this.

[UKHamlet]

Wainwright has settled the argument about who plays 6. He was very good today. Given he's had an hour on the pitch since injury, I'd pencil him in as a "must play". Tips had his best game this 6N, AWJ was terrific, as was Biggar, Z was good at FB, but the standout player for me was North, who look settled alongside Tomkins.

[UKHamlet]

Oh and Rio is starting to impress.

[Sourdust]

I have to say a word for Dyer; his tackling is still TERRIBLE, but he really brings something to the party in attack, especially with his kick-chasing. As long as he's not keeping LRZ out, I'm happy to persevere with him.

[francoisfou]

Bravo, les Gallois! You can be proud of your team.

[normanski]

With today’s team and performance we would have beaten England in Cardiff.

[normanski]

I have to say a word for Dyer; his tackling is still TERRIBLE, but he really brings something to the party in attack, especially with his kick-chasing. As long as he's not keeping LRZ out, I'm happy to persevere with him.

The new Shane?

[Sandydragon]

Gatland probably now knows the main skeleton of his team for RWC and he can build on this.

Agreed. It’s not perfect but today looked a more balanced team and it’s looking better than it did a month ago.

Loads to work on but there have been positives over the past two weeks to work with.

[Son of Mathonwy]

A much better defensive performance - 18 missed in total:

Successful Tackles Missed Tackles
L Rees-ZammitFB 2 1
J AdamsW 6 1
G NorthC 5 2
N TompkinsC 7 1
R DyerW 4 1
D BiggarFH 8 1
R WebbSH 7 2
W JonesP 2 0
K OwensH 8 0
T FrancisP 6 2
A BeardL 10 1
A JonesL 5 1
A WainwrightFL 10 1
J TipuricFL 18 0
T FaletauN8 6 3
B RobertsR 8 0
G ThomasR 4 0
D LewisR 5 0
D JenkinsR 10 1
T ReffellR 5 0
T WilliamsR 1 0
O WilliamsR 0 0
L HalfpennyR 0 0

Our more experienced centres kept things reasonably tight. Tipuric continues to amaze with 18 tackles, 0 misses. Faletau, of all people, was the worst, making 6, missing 3 - presumably why he came off.

[normanski]

What’s Tipuric’s record for the 6N this year?

[Sandydragon]

Our penalty count was much lower too.

[Son of Mathonwy]

A comfortable win for France but not a shameful defeat for us. Keeping at it for a bonus point was a nice way to salvage something.

A dismal 6N overall, with 3 awful losses (today's not quite being in that category). Luckily for us, Italy are at least as bad at turning pressure into points. Hopefully Gatland has learned something from his highly varied selections, although it does look like he's taken the whole 6N to work out that our established centres are actually more reliable than the newbies (and he utterly failed to test Keiran Williams).

All in all though, a disastrous decision by the WRU to rehire him.

[Sandydragon]

Tomos Williams had his best game in red for a long time. I prefer him off the bench and Webb did a lot right, but good to see Tomos back to decent form.

[Spiffy]

Wainwright has settled the argument about who plays 6. He was very good today. Given he's had an hour on the pitch since injury, I'd pencil him in as a "must play". Tips had his best game this 6N, AWJ was terrific, as was Biggar, Z was good at FB, but the standout player for me was North, who look settled alongside Tomkins.

Tompkins is one tough little nut who punches well above his weight in both attack and defence. Good feet too.