6 Nations
France Win Incredible Encounter Against Wales
France have kept their Grand Slam dreams alive with another impressive win, this time against current title holders Wales
France have come out 27-23 winners in a Six Nations classic against Wales at the Principality Stadium this evening to keep their Grand Slam hopes alive.
In what was an end to end game the visitors managed to sneak past their hosts despite spending a quarter of the game with a man less in what was a remarkable performance.
It was Wales who made a more positive start to the game and were rewarded early on as fly-half Dan Biggar smashed over a penalty from 35-metres out to put the hosts in front.
However, France came roaring back and within a couple of minutes they went over for the opening try of the game as Leigh Halfpenny failed to cope with a kick from Romain Ntamack, which French full-back Anthony Bouthier gathered up the ball and raced under the posts. Ntamack knocked the conversion through the posts to hand the away side the lead.
The fly-half put further distance between the two sides on 18 minutes as he sent a lovely penalty kick between the uprights to put Les Bleus 10-3 up.
With 26 minutes on the clock Biggar cut into the visitors lead as he slotted a simple penalty over to make it 10-6.
France once again came back after Wales scored and struck for their second try just before the half-hour mark as they took down a line-out inside the Welsh 22 before lock Paul Willemse peeled off the maul and burst through two tacklers to touch-down in the left corner. Ntamack thumped the extras over once more to stretch the lead out to 17-6.
Four minutes later and Wales looked as though they were going to get in for a five-pointer themselves, but had to settle for another three-points from the boot of Biggar, who kicked another penalty.
With a minute left in the half France were reduced to 14-men as No 8 Gregory Alldritt was shown a yellow-card after the French conceded a number of penalties in quick succession.
Wales pounded away at the opposition for over five minutes after the clock had gone into the red zone, but they couldn’t take advantage as they eventually knocked-on meaning the score was 17-9 heading in at half-time, with the French showing some serious determination to keep Wales at bay at the end of the half.
France managed to cope for the remainder of the sin-binning without conceding any scores but within a couple of minutes of returning to their full compliment Wales got their try as Dillon Lewis latched onto a loose ball beside the French line and powered over beside the posts. Biggar had the simple job of tipping over the conversion to make it a one-point game at 17-16 to France.
The away side put themselves further in front with just under 30 minutes left on the clock as Ntamack intercepted a pass down Wales’ left as they looked to attack and he charged down the field to put the ball down for the try. He converted his own score to put France 24-17 ahead.
France extended their lead on 64 minutes as Ntamack blasted a long-range penalty over to leave the score at 27-16 to the visitors heading into the final quarter of an hour.
The away team were reduced to 14-men for the second time in the game as Mohamed Haouas was shown yellow after Wales won several penalties at scrum-time. However, there was a huge momentum swing at the next scrum as Damba Bamba came in and helped his side win a scrum against the head on their own five-metre line despite having centre Gael Fickou at No 8.
Wales set up a grandstand finish with five minutes left however, as they broke into the French 22 again and this time they weren’t to be stopped as Biggar crashed over the line from close-range. Following a TMO review the try was awarded and he like Ntamack converted his own try to put them within touching distance of a result with the score at 27-23.
Despite Wales throwing their all at the French over the final minutes they couldn’t find a way through meaning France claimed a first win on Welsh soil since 2010.
Next up for Wales is another tough test as they head to Twickenham to face England, while France will look to keep their Grand Slam hopes alive when they take on Scotland at Murrayfield.
Player Ratings
Starting XV:
Leigh Halfpenny (6), George North (4), Nick Tompkins (8), Hadleigh Parkes (6), Josh Adams (6), Dan Biggar (8), Gareth Davies (6); Wyn Jones (6), Ken Owens (7), Dillon Lewis (7), Jake Ball (6), Alun Wyn Jones (7), Ross Moriarty (7), Justin Tipuric (6), Taulupe Faletau (6)
Replacements (7)
The Irish Rugby Football Union (IRFU) is delighted to announce the return of the ‘A’ Interprovincial Men’s Championship which will kick off next month.
The times and dates of the opening three rounds of the Championship before Christmas have been confirmed, with a similar points-scoring system as used in the URC. A Championship winner will be declared after the final round of matches in May and the IRFU will be commissioning a legacy trophy to mark the 150th anniversary celebrations.
Welcoming the news, IRFU Performance Director David Humphreys commented:
“We’re delighted to kick-start the Men’s ‘A’ Interprovincial Championship which will provide a host of players with a further means of developing in a meaningful competition. With the success of the Emerging Ireland Tours, coupled with the return of an ‘A’ international against England next year, it is vital that we continue to provide players at provincial and Club levels with opportunities to impress outside of the traditional URC and EPCR fixture windows.
“Discussions have been ongoing for some time to provide players with meaningful games and all four provinces are unanimously supportive of this competition. It is also great to see provinces taking matches around their local Clubs.
“It is anticipated that as the competition progresses over the coming seasons these fixtures won’t clash with Energia All-Ireland League fixtures for the most part, thus potentially also offering players from the Club game with an opportunity to impress.
“This competition will form another important part of the representative pathway from Energia AIL to URC levels for Academy players upwards over the coming seasons.”
The dates for the post-Christmas fixtures will be confirmed in due course. Ticket details will be confirmed via the respective provinces.
IRFU 150 Interprovincial ‘A’ Championship Fixtures:
Saturday, 16th November:
Connacht Eagles v Leinster ‘A’ (Creggs RFC, 1pm)
Friday, 22nd November:
Ulster ‘A’ v Connacht Eagles (Ballymacaran Park, 3pm), Leinster ‘A’ v Munster ‘A’ (Lakelands, 5pm)
Friday, 29th November:
Munster ‘A’ v Ulster ‘A’ (New Ormond Park, 3pm)
Friday, 20th December:
Ulster ‘A’ v Munster ‘A’ (tbc, 3pm)
Saturday, 21st December:
Leinster ‘A’ v Connacht Eagles (Ollie Campbell Park, 2pm)
Weekend of 28/29 December:
Connacht Eagles v Ulster ‘A’ (tbc), Munster ‘A’ v Leinster ‘A’ (tbc)
Weekend of 9/10 May:
Connacht Eagles v Munster ‘A’ (tbc), Leinster ‘A’ v Ulster ‘A’ (tbc)
Weekend of 16/17 May:
Munster ‘A’ v Connacht Eagles (tbc), Ulster ‘A’ v Leinster ‘A’ (tbc)
Images & Content from Irish Rugby & Images © Inpho Photography
The Emerging Ireland team to face the Cheetahs in the final game of the three-match series in Bloemfontein on Wednesday evening (kick off 6pm Irish time, 7pm local time) has been named.
Leinster’s James Culhane will lead the team and he forms a new back-row alongside Harry Sheridan and Sean Edogbo, who makes his first start of the tour having come on as a replacement in the 29-24 win over Western Force on Sunday afternoon. Former Ireland Under-20 captain Evan O’Connell locks down with Darragh Murray, who featured in the opening 36-24 victory over the Pumas, with Alex Usanov named in the front row alongside hooker Stephen Smyth and Jack Aungier.
Darragh Murray of Emerging Ireland scores his sides second try – Mandatory Credit ©INPHO/Steve Haag Sports/Darren Stewart
In the backline, Sam Prendergast starts his third game of the tour at out-half and he will be partnered by Cormac Foley, who featured as a second half replacements against the Australian Super Rugby side last time out. Connacht’s Hugh Gavin forms a midfield partnership with Hugh Cooney, with Ulster’s Zac Ward named in an exciting back tree alongside the returning Ben O’Connor at full-back and Andrew Osborne who moves to the right wing.
Munster loosehead prop George Hadden, who was called up to the squad last weekend, is set to make his first appearance after being named on the bench alongside Conor O’Tighearnaigh and Alex Soroka who started Sunday’s win. Hadden’s provincial team-mate Danny Sheahan provides cover once more at hooker, while Scott Wilson and Charlie Tector are also named on the bench for the Toyota Stadium clash alongside out-half Jack Murphy.
Looking ahead to the game, Emerging Ireland Head Coach Simon Easterby said: “When we set out at the beginning of our pre-camp in Dublin, we knew about the challenge of facing three sides in a week and we knew that every player in the group would have the opportunity to play his part. To a man each player has given his all so far and we are aiming to finish off the series with another positive performance on Wednesday.
The Cheetahs are a fiercely proud and strong side and it should be a lively game with a vocal home support behind them. It has been a fruitful past few weeks to date and we have learned a lot. While our performances haven’t been perfect, the players have embraced the challenge and played some brilliant rugby at times. The action has come thick and fast and we know that we have to be clinical in our execution. We will need to go up another level on Wednesday to get the performance we want and hopefully finish the tour on a high.”
Wednesday’s game will be broadcast once more on IrishRugby+ – click here.
Emerging Ireland (v The Cheetahs, Wednesday, October 9, 7pm local time, 6pm Irish time)
15: Ben O’Connor (UCC RFC/Munster)
14: Andrew Osborne (Naas RFC/Leinster)
13: Hugh Cooney (Clontarf FC/Leinster)
12: Hugh Gavin (Galwegians RFC/Connacht)
11: Zac Ward (Ballynahinch RFC/Ulster/Ireland Sevens)
10: Sam Prendergast (Lansdowne FC/Leinster)
9: Cormac Foley (Lansdowne FC/Leinster)
1: Alex Usanov (Clontarf FC/Leinster)
2: Stephen Smyth (Old Wesley RFC/Leinster)
3: Jack Aungier (Clontarf FC/Connacht)
4: Evan O’Connell (Young Munster RFC/Munster)
5: Darragh Murray (Buccaneers RFC/Connacht)
6: Harry Sheridan (Dublin University FC/Ulster)
7: Sean Edogbo (UCC RFC/Munster)
8: James Culhane (UCD RFC/Leinster) (captain)
Replacements:
16: Danny Sheahan (Cork Constitution FC/Munster)
17: George Hadden (Garryowen FC/Munster)
18: Scott Wilson (Queen’s University Belfast RFC/Ulster)
19: Conor O’Tighearnaigh (UCD RFC/Leinster)
20: Alex Soroka (Clontarf FC/Leinster)
21: Matthew Devine (Corinthians RFC/Connacht)
22: Jack Murphy (Clontarf FC/Ulster)
23: Charlie Tector (Lansdowne FC/Leinster)
Images & Content from Irish Rugby & Images © Inpho Photography
Following Emerging Ireland’s 29-24 victory over Western Force in Bloemfontein on Sunday three players, Gus McCarthy (Leinster), Sean O’Brien (Munster) and Jude Postlethwaite (Ulster) will return to their provinces.
The trio will leave South Africa on Monday afternoon and will be available for selection for their respective URC fixtures this weekend.
The squad will visit Heidedal Township this afternoon and will conclude the three-match series on Wednesday evening against The Cheetahs (kick off 7pm local, 6pm Irish time). That match will be live on irishrugby+
Watch the full match back here on irishrugby+
Check out the highlights from the win against Western Force below.
Images & Content from Irish Rugby & Images © Inpho Photography
Jordan signs for Bristol Bears
IRFU Announces Return Of ‘A’ Interprovincial Championship
