France U20 remain unbeaten after 32-13 victory over Wales

France U20 32-13 Wales U20, Racecourse Stadium
Scorecard

France remained unbeaten in the ongoing World Rugby U20 Championship as they went on to beat 32-13 against Wales at Racecourse Stadium on Saturday.

The win means France hold the top place in Pool A with 10 points while Wales are at third place with four points.

Wales got off to a flying start with Tomi Lewis touching down in the fifth minute with the response from France coming from leading points scorer of the tournament Louis Carbonel when he kicked a 14th minute penalty.

Carbonel continued his good form with a converted try in the 22nd minute but the gap between the two sides came down to two points with Wales fly-half kicking Cai Evans kicking a three-pointer three minutes later.

France had a bright start to the second half with Vincent Pinto reaching out to score. Carbonel missed out on the conversion but kicked a penalty goal to make the scoreline 18-8 and it soon became 25-8 when Matthis Lebel crossed the whitewash. Lewis with his second in the 73rd minute provided Wales with a glimmer of hope that disappeared with Julien Delbouis' final try in the added minutes to complete a 32-13 win for France.

France captain Arthur Vincent: “It was a very, very difficult game – like the other game against Fiji – but we did well in the second half. We knew Wales had a good defence so we had to run the ball a lot. To get the five points is very good for us.”

Wales captain Dewi Lake: “One thing we spoke about leading up to the game was how we’d have to play for 80 minutes. Forty minutes in, there was only two points in it, and that shows how we can play but, credit to them, they caught us.

"We had to defend for a lot of the game, and it is always hard to do that. This is a five-game series and, with every game, there’s a chance to learn and that’s what we’ll have to do today.

"Of course, it is disappointing to lose the game but with Fiji coming up in four days, that’s when we have got to go again. It’s important for the boys to get over the disappointment so we can give our best against Fiji.”