France crush Wales 43-0 in Six Nations opener

France 43-0 Wales, Paris

France delivered a statement performance in their opening Six Nations clash, dismantling Wales 43-0 at the Stade de France.

The hosts demonstrated their championship credentials with a ruthless display, securing a try bonus point before halftime and leaving their opponents struggling to find a foothold in the game.

From the outset, France applied immense pressure, forcing Wales into desperate defensive efforts. Scrum-half Antoine Dupont was held up over the line early on, while Josh Adams and Tommy Reffell made crucial tackles to deny Théo Attisogbé.

However, the defensive resistance was short-lived as France found their rhythm and began to carve through the Welsh defense.

Despite an early attacking opportunity for Adams in the French 22, Wales failed to capitalize, losing possession and conceding a penalty. The missed chance proved costly as France soon took control.

The opening try arrived through Attisogbé, who latched onto a pinpoint cross-field kick from Dupont to score unopposed. Thomas Ramos converted, surpassing the 500-point mark for France and moving closer to Frederic Michalak’s all-time national record.

Minutes later, Ramos orchestrated another score, floating a perfect pass over Adams to Louis Bielle-Biarrey, who touched down to extend the lead. Another successful conversion pushed the score to 14-0.

Wales suffered a further setback when Owen Watkin limped off, making way for debutant Dan Edwards. Their problems deepened when Evan Lloyd was sent to the sin bin for a high tackle, later reviewed by the Bunker system.

Dupont then split the Welsh defense with a blistering run, delivering a well-timed pass to Attisogbé for his second try of the night. With Ramos adding the extras, France had a commanding 21-0 lead.

Just before halftime, Bielle-Biarrey collected a Dupont pass at the Welsh try line and sidestepped over for his second, securing France’s bonus point. Ramos’ flawless kicking made it 28-0 at the break.

With the game effectively won, Dupont was substituted for young scrum-half Nolann le Garrec. It took France until the 54th minute to add to their tally, as replacement hooker Julien Marchand powered over the line. Surprisingly, Ramos missed the conversion, leaving the score at 33-0.

France’s control was evident as they moved Wales around the field before a pinpoint kick from Romain Ntamack landed perfectly for Emilien Gailleton, who strolled over for the sixth try.

Ntamack’s night took a turn when he was shown a yellow card for a dangerous shoulder-to-head tackle. After review, it was upgraded to a red, reducing France to 14 men for the final ten minutes.

Despite the numerical disadvantage, Wales failed to break through. Instead, French number eight Grégory Alldritt crossed in the dying moments to complete the emphatic shutout.

The result extends Wales’ losing streak to 13 matches, increasing pressure ahead of their must-win fixture against Italy in Rome. Meanwhile, France will take their confidence into a crucial encounter against England at the Allianz Stadium, eyeing another dominant performance.

Team line up:

France: Ramos; Attissogbe, Barassi, Moefana, Bielle-Biarrey; Ntamack, Dupont (capt); Gros, Mauvaka, Atonio, Roumat, Meafou, Cros, Boudehent, Alldritt.

Reserves: Marchand, Baille, Colombe, Auradou, Guillard, Jegou, Le Garrec, Gailleton.

Wales: L Williams; Rogers, Watkin, Tompkins, Adams; B Thomas,-T Williams; G Thomas, Lloyd, H Thomas, Rowlands, Jenkins, Botham, Morgan (capt),Wainwright.

Reserves: Dee, Smith, Assiratti, F Thomas, Reffell, R. Williams, Edwards, Murray.