Wales secured second place in the Six Nations behind Grand Slam champions Ireland.
Wales came back to defeat France in a narrow margin for 14-13 in the final match of Six Nations Championship at Principality Stadium last Saturday.
Last won in 2013, it was Ireland’s third-ever Grand Slam. They were the fourth champion in the fifth year under Joe Schmidt, the head coach’s leadership.
This competition was particularly eye-focusing as it was the last match in this season. Prior to the game, Wales had defeated both Scotland and Italy.
Welsh team was celebrating their victory. Source from Walesonline.The game
With a lack of passing options, Trinh-Duc slots the drop goal between the posts after the show began for just 2 minutes, giving the French side a 3-0 lead.
The French team got into an awful mess, stopping because they thought that Wales’ kick-off had not reached 10 metres.
Just one minute later, Wales race downfield and after Trinh-Duc misjudges the grubber kick, Liam Williams runs in to score. Now the score was 5-3.
5 minutes later, Leigh Halfpenny takes the penalty, from a similar spot to his missed conversion. This time, it sails between the post, to make it 8-3.
Not for a long time, another kick slightly left of the posts, and the fullback nails it. Scores became 11-3. Wales won eight points straight forward!
France kept the counter-attack alive though Lauret and Fickou finish the move, gliding through a gap to score in about 10 minutes later, nearly caught the points for 11-10.
Halfpenny makes no mistake for the third time, and Wales continue to punish French indiscretions. Wales 14-10 France. That’s for the halftime.
As the one of the most famous sports team in Wales, their performance is always attracting.About 10 minutes after the beginning of second half, Machenaud does the business, and France is within a point. Finally 14-13.
An accident happened at 18:37. With Machenaud off, Trinh-Duc lines up the regulation kick, but he missed the opportunity for a penalty.
So France lost the last chance. Scores remained for 14-13 till the match over.
However, it was a strange 80 minutes, for too many errors from the two teams.Undoubtedly, the Welsh defences were the strongest suit in the victory as Warren Gatland’s team held off wave after wave of French forays in the second half.
Steve, a faithful fan in the Guinness Bar, said, “We won toughly, as it was kind of lucky since there were some unbearable mistakes. But I think the Welsh team can learn much from this game, as well as the French guys.”
His idea was similar to the Welsh coach.
“It was definitely an ugly win,” Said Warren Gatland, “The performance was not the most important thing. We started off well but there were too many turnovers and mistakes.”
“This is not a bad French team and they are going to get better. It is a hard competition to finish second and we are pleased with where we are at the moment.”
There were several street booths in Cardiff during the day of the match.“I fell in love with the rugby since I was young, and I’m always support the national team, whether how they act. They represents the spirits of rugby.” Said Steve affectionately.
Next year’s Six Nations tournament will next start on the 1st Feb 2019.
For more information, visit: https://www.sixnationsrugby.com/en/matchcentre/fixtures-2019.php