Wales vs France: Six Nations talking points ahead of Cardiff clash
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Last Updated: 22/02/20 4:38pm
Talking points as unbeaten France head to Cardiff looking for a first Six Nations win in the Welsh capital since 2010...
Young France need to break old habits
France have already seen off England and Italy in the Six Nations, but if this young side wants to prove they are worthy of their plaudits they need to win on the road.
Fabien Galthie's first squad last month had 19 uncapped players out of 42, so there are plenty of youngsters who won't be scarred by the losses the national team has suffered over the past decade - but they will be aware of the poor away record of recent times.
France have collected three wins at Murrayfield in the last 10 tournaments, and have the same record against perennial wooden-spoonists Italy over the same period, but against the other three teams in the championship they've come up short away from home.
Their last victory in Cardiff in the Six Nations was in 2010, which incidentally was the last time they recorded a Grand Slam, and they haven't had championship success in Dublin since 2011.
It's a staggering 15 years since they won a Six Nations Test at Twickenham, and it's six years since they won in Edinburgh, so their only away success in the tournament since 2014 has come against Italy.
The round-one win against England now in the past, this weekend is the perfect chance for a young France side to prove they can dominate outside their own home comforts.
Wales' experience to count?
In stark contrast with their visitors, Wales will field the most capped team in Six Nations history on Saturday - and head coach Wayne Pivac hopes that experience will be a factor.
The Wales starting line-up contains a record 859 caps, with more than half the side having played at least 50 Tests and skipper Alun Wyn Jones edging close to 140 for his country.
It breaks the previous best mark of 822 set by Italy against Scotland in 2012.
"Hopefully it will mean a lot this weekend," said Pivac, who has made two changes from the side beaten by Ireland 12 days ago, calling up scrum-half Gareth Davies and flanker Ross Moriarty.
"If we can start well, which is something we are trying to achieve in both halves - we've been a bit slow out of the blocks - then that experience will hopefully come through for us and will test some of the inexperienced players in their side."
60-minute special
France were impressive in their 24-17 victory over England in week one, but something that will concern them is the fact that they were 24-0 up after nearly an hour and allowed England back into the game. Jonny May's first try in the 57th minute got England off the mark, and in the end Eddie Jones' side managed to leave Paris with a losing bonus point.
France's 35-22 win over Italy a week later was more comfortable, but in reality Les Bleus were sloppy and would have been punished by better opposition.
Will Greenwood, speaking on this week's podcast from the Himalayas, said the challenge for the French coaching staff is getting the players to deliver consistently on the field.
"I looked at the two performances they have had so far, and you can actually say the last 30 [minutes] they had against England wasn't great," Greenwood said. "Other than the [Antoine] Dupont inside ball to [Charles] Ollivon round the front of the lineout, England took them apart in the second half.
"I think the challenge for Shaun Edwards, or Fabian Galthie clearly, is to try and turn this team into a 70-minute team. No team really can ever play for 80, but I think in the first two games they've shown they are 50 minutes on and 30 off - which is way better than they have been.
"That's their big challenge now, to produce a 60-minute performance because I think 50 minutes in Cardiff won't be good enough."
World Cup revenge?
France were beaten in painful fashion by Wales in the quarter-finals of last year's World Cup in Japan. The French were 19-10 ahead with eight minutes gone in the second half when Sebastien Vahaamahina provided one of the more memorable elbow-to-the-face moments in rugby history by striking Aaron Wainwright in the jaw without any provocation.
Referee Jaco Peyper sent Vahaamahina off the field, and though France held out admirably for almost half an hour, Ross Moriarty finally edged his side ahead with five minutes remaining with a try that earned Wales a one-point win.
Then-Wales coach Warren Gatland admitted after the game that "the better side had lost", but the French won't have taken any comfort from Gatland's words as a second consecutive World Cup ended in a last-eight exit.
While Vahaamahina can take most of the blame for last year's loss, the current crop will no doubt have redemption for the Japan loss on their minds when they take the field in Cardiff.
Teams
Wales: 15 Leigh Halfpenny, 14 George North, 13 Nick Tompkins, 12 Hadleigh Parkes, 11 Josh Adams, 10 Dan Biggar, 9 Gareth Davies; 1 Wyn Jones, 2 Ken Owens, 3 Dillon Lewis, 4 Jake Ball, 5 Alun Wyn Jones (c), 6 Ross Moriarty, 7 Justin Tipuric, 8 Taulupe Faletau.
Replacements: 16 Ryan Elias, 17 Rob Evans, 18 Leon Brown, 19 Will Rowlands, 20 Aaron Wainwright, 21 Tomos Williams, 22 Jarrod Evans, 23 Johnny McNicholl.
France: 15 Anthony Bouthier, 14 Teddy Thomas, 13 Virimi Vakatawa, 12 Arthur Vincent, 11 Gael Fickou, 10 Romain Ntamack, 9 Anthony Dupont; 1 Cyril Baille, 2 Julien Marchand, 3 Mohamed Haouas, 4 Bernard Le Roux, 5 Paul Willemse, 6 Francois Cros, 7 Charles Ollivon (c), 8 Gregory Alldritt.
Replacements: 16 Camille Chat, 17 Jean-Baptiste Gros, 18 Demba Bamba, 19 Romain Taofifenua, 20 Dylan Cretin, 21 Baptiste Serin, 22 Matthieu Jalibert, 23 Thomas Ramos.
