By David Parsons
It looks like things are getting to get even worse before they get any better for Warren Gatland’s Wales after they were blown away by France in a 43-0 humiliation in Paris.
As an opening gambit in a Six Nations championship, it was a pretty dire scoreline – the first time Wales had failed to score in a Five or Six Nations game since France won 51-0 at Wembley back in 1998.
It took the record run of defeats up to 13 in all games and to seven in the Six Nations.
The question is, when and where will the next win come from?
Gatland said he was happy with the preparation, the attitude and the mindset of his players coming into this acid test at Stade de France.
They never shirked a tackle, gave every ounce of effort right to the end, yet were miles off the French in terms of physicality and panache.
Gareth Thomas, Nicky Smith, Jac Morgan and Tommy Reffell were able to hold up their heads after stellar shifts up front, but there was nothing to cause concern to the home side in the back division.
Wow.
Wales are soundly defeated in the Stade de France to make it 13 losses in a row for Warren Gatlands side. ❌
Thoughts? #BBCRugby #SixNations #FRAvWAL pic.twitter.com/Z5iir4ymVT
— BBC ScrumV (@BBCScrumV) January 31, 2025
And to make matters all the worse, Wales lost their biggest ball carrier, Aaron Wainwright, to a nasty head cut after only four minutes and centre Owen Watkin to what looked like a serious knee injury in the 27th.
Add in 26 missed tackles, 12 penalties and two yellow cards and you have all the ingredients for a heavy defeat.
Next weekend Wales will be in Rome to face an Italian side seeking a repeat of their win in Cardiff last season.
Wales will go in as the underdogs after this defeat and will need to up their game if they are to avoid another loss.
The French scored four tries in the first half and three more after the break as they kicked-off their campaign with a magnificent seven tries.
Skipper Antoine Dupont orchestrated his side’s performance like the maestro he is in the first half and then got taken off in the 49th minute.
The French knew the job was done once they had bagged the bonus point in the first half and there was no point in risking any damage to their main man.
Wales started brightly in both attack and defence after Ben Thomas had kicked-off the 2025 championship.
They spread the ball left to right and back again in the first exchange and then scrambled well to hold up home skipper Antoine Dupont.
Antoine Dupont was at his dazzling best for France as they cruised past Wales in their #SixNations2025 opener ✨#BBCRugby #FRAWAL pic.twitter.com/6P6xmVhNaJ
— BBC Sport (@BBCSport) January 31, 2025
The scrum started and stayed solid and from a good attack in the 12th minute Evan Lloyd, making his first start at hooker, was penalised for holding on in a marginal call.
The French were carrying hard and heavy, but the Welsh defence kept them at bay until the 18th minute.
A Dupont kick through into the Wales 22 had forced Tommy Rogers to concede a scrum five metres out, but Wales successfully defended their line. But there was nothing they could do moments later when Dupont ran across field and kicked to the right corner for Theo Attisogbe to gather and score.
Thomas Ramos converted off the touchline and five minutes later provided the overhead pass that enabled the other French wing, Louis Bielle-Biarrey, to race over for a second try.
Once again Ramos hit the target with his conversion to make it 14-0.
The Welsh cause wasn’t helped by the loss to a nasty cut of Wainwright in the fourth minute and then centre Watkin to a knee injury in the 27th.
Tommy Reffell came on to replace Wainwright and Dan Edwards came on to win his first cap as Ben Thomas switched to inside centre to allow the young Osprey to slot in at No 10.
The problems were compounded just after the half-hour mark when Lloyd was shown a yellow card, and put on off field report, for a head high shot on Bielle-Biarrey.
While he was away the French were able to pick up two more tries before the break to go into half-time leading 28-0.
Once again it was the wings who grabbed the headlines with both Attisogbe and Bielle-Biarrey running in their second scores.
Ramos made it four out of four with his conversions and Wales faced an uphill struggle in the second half.
Having conceded four tries in the opening 40 minutes they restricted the French to three in the second as they fought tooth and nail.
They put in 188 tackles throughout the game but found the power of the home pack hard to handle as they drove forward.
Warren Gatland changed the whole front row five minutes into the second half, brining on Nicky Smith for his 50th cap, but opposite number Fabien Galthie changed six players two minutes later as he recharged his forwards.
The fifth try came in the 54th minute when replacement hooker Julien Marchand drove over from a line out and another replacement, wing Emilien Gailleton, touched down moments after coming onto the field in the 68th minute.
Neither try was converted and replacement scrum half Nolann le Garrec also missed with the final conversion in the 78th minute after Gregory Alldritt had powered over from close range.
The only negative for the French was a yellow card that was upgraded to red for Romain Ntamack following his late shoulder charge to the head of Ben Thomas.
Wales also picked up a second yellow card four minutes from time when Freddie Thomas was caught lingering offside.
