Wales are as bad as advertised
Wales are not terrible, but they're not good either. With a loss against Italy next week they could drop below Georgia in the world rankings which would make them the 7th best team in Europe alone. The most worrying thing for Wales is that they lack the players but the coaching has been inadequate. They lack physical ball-carriers so need to be smart about their method of attack. However, they are set up to be predictable and ineffective. Combine that with physical inferiority and you end up failing to score a point as they did on Friday night.
France are a force to be reckoned with
France came into this tournament as many people's favourite to win it all. On Friday, they reaffirmed that view. Wales were admirable but obviously out-matched and France ran riot in the first half. In the second, Les Bleus found themselves bogged down by some red resistance. However, that faded late on as France added another try or two. Despite missing Penaud, France got significant contributions from both Bielle-Biarrey and Attissogbe who both scored twice. France will now travel to Twickenham with the belief that they can recreate their previous exploits at the stadium formerly known as Twickenham.
Ntamack will regret that
The one blip from the game from a French perspective was the Ntamack red card. It seemed to be an act of revenge rather than pure recklessness. A couple of minutes before the ultimate incident, he was the recipient of a strong tackle that was borderline late by Ben Thomas which he did not seem to take well. So, when Thomas was being tackled a couple of minutes later, Ntamack took his opportunity to hit him in the head with his shoulder. He was eventually shown a red card after review and will now miss at least one crucial game in which Jalibert will likely get an opportunity to stake his claim for the French 10 shirt.
Dupont is just different
Early on, Dupont made a mistake where he attempted a cross-field kick which went straight into touch because no one was ready for it. The reaction from commentary was almost confused, as if it's difficult to believe that Dupont would make such a mistake. However, things soon returned to the status quo with Dupont running the show, and clearly being the best player on the pitch. He continues to look like a rugby demi-god amongst mortals.
Welsh reasons for optimism
Despite my harshness in the first point, there were some glimmers of hope for Wales. The first being the scrum, which looked on paper to be a mismatch in France's favour. However, the likes of Henry Thomas stood up and held their own throughout the game much to my surprise. If they can continue to do that, the game in Rome will be very tight indeed. Ben Thomas and Dan Edwards also managed to hold their own in a tough situation which sets them up well for international careers. The standout player for Wales, was Jac Morgan. He was everywhere, whether it was ball-carrying, tackling or winning turnovers, he captained the team as well as anyone could possibly expect.
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