Wales control unconvincing France

North's try proved the difference on the night, as both teams struggled to attack.

It started off with a malfunction, as the roof had to be left open to the cold Cardiff air. Early on it seemed to throw of the kickers, with both Biggar & Plison missing their first attempt at goal. Overall the game wasn't a spectacular one, France were constantly looking for the offload which amidst the ferocious Welsh defence lead to a large array of scrums which killed any momentum in the game. It was a game which was won by a moment of pace and finishing by George North, even a late French driving maul did nothing to add much sheen to the poor French performance.

Is Trinh-Duc the fly-half for France?

France looked most dangerous in the last 10-15 minutes after the introduction of the maverick Trinh-Duc, who looked to attack on the gainline and bring his forwards into play slightly wider out. A little disappointing after Plisson had had two good confident games for France and offering France an element of control which they have lacked for years. However against Wales he was largely anonymous and what he is remembered for is a blatant forward pass and a rash clearance kick which gave Wales an attacking lineout and the first score. France's driving maul caused Wales problems in the second half, and after the replacement of Lydiate in the final 5 minutes it utterly collapsed as France steamrollered over for their try. It's clear just how important Charteris is to Wales' lineout defence both in defending the maul weapon that the likes of France and England like to employ, but also in trying to steal the ball. Against Ireland and Scotland, Wales pulled off two lineout steals a game, against France there weren't any. Wales will be hoping for Charteris' return to fitness for Twickenham in two weeks.

Anscome, the solution to Wales
try scoring problem?

This wasn't the biggest problem for Wales though - for 20 minutes in the second half they defended the driving maul expertly - once again Wales failed to execute well created chances. There was one glaring opportunity in the first half, after Gareth Davies made yet another excellent break and used his raw pace to escape the covering French defence. He had five men-in-red outside him against two scrambling in blue, a simple offload to Biggar and with the rest of the Welsh backline outside him it should have been a clear try. Instead he kicked the ball into the try area, and it was dealt with by the covering French players. This lead to a succession of scrums which Wales failed to execute into a try. North's try came from a turnover, an intelligent kick by Jonathan Davies, some exceptional speed; and a little bit of luck for the winger. Again in the second half there came a chance for Wales near the French line, instead of using the backline they continued to hammer away with the forwards, which resulted in a French penalty and nothing coming of it. And another when Dan Lydiate was unable to link up with Faletau outside him as Wales looked to carve through the French defence. On the whole it spoke of a Wales team which still lacked the basic confidence in decision making, and ability to execute, in the final third. I often wonder if Rhys Priestland (especially after his successful appearances in the first two rounds) would make a difference to Wales' attacking game in the last twenty minutes, or even Gareth Anscombe at fullback with his Super Rugby experience. As superb as Biggar is for controlling the game and kick chase, Priestland certainly takes the ball closer to the line in attack.

Liam Williams was starting to show
his form once again.

Speaking of the kicking game it was once again a fruitful endeavor for the likes of Biggar and Liam Williams. At no point in the game did a French player claim the ball cleanly, and more often than not the ball ended up in Wales hands. Liam Williams was simple peerless in defending any kicks France unleashed, and Dan Biggar went about reclaiming his own up-and-under's with typical reckless abandon. It wasn't just the kicks to contest that Biggar was dominant at, when Wales looked to be struggling to gain ground in the middle third, the Ospreys fly-half pulled off some exceptional kicks to touch, exploiting the poor positioning of the French back-three to keep the pressure on the visitors. His kicks to exit were excellent too, one clearing penalty kick went from under his posts to the half way line (even if the penalty was later overturned). The clearance kicks were chased exceptionally by all those involved especially Alex Cuthbert, who had a superb game in his return to the starting team.

It was a great game for the Cardiff Blues' man, he had very little chance to show his greatest attributes as in attack Wales rarely used him, in a game with little space as it was. But that didn't stop him trying to get involved consistently, offering himself as an option in lineout set moves, and often on the shoulder of Gareth Davies when he made breaks. His kick-chasing was exquisite, using all of his athleticism and speed to arrive at the right moment and place the catcher under serious pressure. He gave it his all, and is something that is useful for Wales on the whole as they often lack a strong kick chase at length. Perhaps the biggest part of his display last night was his defence, surprising for a player who has often been picked apart by fans and pundits in the past. In the first half Wales looked to bring him around the fringe defence, this was likely to avoid forcing him to make decisions in the wider channels which has been is biggest failing in the past. Instead his strength was used to compete at the breakdown, slow the French ball down, and stop the forwards from gaining any ground, an excellent use of the players strength by the Welsh management.

Cuthbert was also directly responsible for the prevention of three tries, two interventions at driving mauls Cuthbert was able to get under the ball clearly enough for Barnes to not even consider use of the TMO. But the really great defensive moment from Cuthbert came when Plisson attempted a cross-field kick, Liam Williams covered the initial recipient of the ball who still managed to get the ball free to the inside support. Cuthbert had covered half the pitch to aid his fullback, and put in a weighty hit on the Frenchman and completed the tackle by driving the player into touch, killing the play. The stats will say his missed two tackles, but a completion of 7 tackles for a winger is nothing to be sniffed at.

Alex Cuthbert was defensively solid against France, something he's struggled with in the past

Elsewhere around the pitch, Jamie Roberts once again provided Wales with thunderous ball carrying and at times lethal tackling. Liam Williams looked more like himself, looking to free up the players around him with offloads and attempting to spark some attacking intent from his teammates. Talupe Faletau was again virtually error free, only one dropped ball from a poor Lydiate pass, but always made more yards than he deserved against the French players. The return of Captain Sam to the openside flank proved effective, as expected. He was much more involved in the Welsh attack, his typical hard lengthy carriers into contact almost created a try for him, and provided Wales with much more go forward ball, even beating two defenders with ball in hand. He made 17 tackles without missing a single one in a herculean defensive effort, and forced two turnovers in a much improved performance. Warburton is an openside through and through, and two opensides doesn't work for Wales, this is clear.

So where do Wales go from here?

Firstly they need to just work on basic skills. Learning how to execute two-on-one's and three-on-two's, is a basic principle that any self respecting rugby player (forward or back) should be able to pull of. Wales have set up those opportunities on multiple occasions this championship and yet have lacked the core skills to finish them off. Often drifting across the pitch and closing the space down of the wider players, or panicking not trusting themselves and putting a kick in instead. It's great that they are looking to develop this wider scoring style, but they are missing that final piece of the puzzle to make it successful. It doesn't seem like something that is too hard to fix, it's just a case of being able to pull it off at Test match intensity and under pressure. We know these players have the ability, Liam Williams does it week-in week-out, and Jonathan Davies was doing it for the Lions not too long ago. As mentioned earlier, would the introduction of Gareth Anscombe earlier in the game, with those handling skills developed in the Southern Hemisphere give Wales that play-maker wider out and allow them to cross the white-wash?

He's got pace, can he
add brains?

Elsewhere, the lineout and maul defence lacked the telescopic arms of Luke Charteris, the scrum wasn't the weapon it was against Ireland and Scotland as Rob Evans struggled against Slimani, as he got on the wrong end of Barnes (and assistant JP Doyle's) law interpretation. At scrum-half Gareth
Davies needs to work on his decision making, on a couple of occasions after making a break he ended up making the wrong call and costing Wales the chance to cause France real problems. His raw pace has proven a remarkable asset in the past, now he just need to apply that to thought processes and link up with his support players.

England at Twickenham is next up (in two weeks), and it is going to be a fearsome prospect. After the World Cup victory for Gatland and his players, England will be looking to return the favour, and under Eddie Jones they are an entirely different prospect. England are on course for a Grand Slam, and rightly so, they have won each of their games in very typical English fashion. Strength upfront has given them the platform and build the phase play, until they can simply great a large overlap and score out wide. England aren't perfect, after an excellent defence in Scotland, they looked flaky against Italy and at points against Ireland fell of one-up tackles and gave Ireland chances to take the game back. England are not setting the tournament alight, but they are winning with commitment and without looking too worried against who they have faced. Wales are going to have to play much better if they hope to win at Twickenham, they have it in them, but England will be confident.