Late heartbreak for Francis in Paris
By Mark Stevens
21/3/21
Exeter Chiefs prop Tomas Francis suffered late heartache in Paris as Wales’ Grand Slam bid was ended in added on time by a try from France’s Brice Dullin.
In a pulsating encounter, not short of incident, Wayne Pivac’s side were left numb as Les Bleus struck two minutes into injury time to inflict a 32-30 defeat.
In a chaotic finale, the hosts had lock Paul Willemse sent off for making contact with the eye area of Wales prop Wyn Jones, while the visitors were reduced to 13 men after Taulupe Faletau and Liam Williams were both sent to the sin bin by referee Luke Pearce.
Those yellow cards proved costly as Dulin crossed from the last play of the match and dashed Welsh hopes of a second Grand Slam in three years.
“It’s quite a numb feeling after the boys put in such a fantastic effort,” said Wales head coach Pivac after an epic Paris contest. “It was hard to defend at that point, but the guys had done tremendously well to hold out.
“It was one too many attack and certainly our discipline didn’t help us in the last 10 minutes. It was quite chaotic. The French management were vocal and quite rightly so.
“They were cheering their team on and we were very vocal in terms of hoping for a turnover. It just had everything that last 10 minutes. We’ll reflect that it was a hell of a game, but it was a frustrating last passage certainly.”
France could now destroy Wales’ title hopes by beating Scotland with a bonus point next Friday.
Pivac admits the fixture – delayed from last month following a coronavirus outbreak in the French camp – will be a difficult examination for Scotland.
He said: “It’s a very good French side, as you saw from a position in the game where I felt we should have kicked on. They just keep coming, a lot of big men, hard on to the ball. They put us under a lot of pressure and, especially at home, they’re a quality side.
“It’s a tough ask for Scotland to come here and win the game, but we’ll be watching eagerly and we’ll see what happens.”