Match Report: France 38-21 Wales

France 38-21 Wales, Stade de France
Scorecard

France warmed up for the end of the year autumn internationals with a 38-21 win over Wales at Stade de France on Saturday.

This is fourth consecutive defeat for Wales under head coach Wayne Pivac. Earlier, Wales skipper Alun Wyn Jones levelled Richie McCaw's World Record of 148 Tests.

It took Wales just 58 second to get the opening points as Justin Tipuric's pass was seized by Dan Biggar, who in turn sent Leigh Halfpenny over the line. Biggar kicked the conversion as they raced to a 0-7 lead.

The fly-half also kicked a penalty goal in the eighth minute as Wales increased their lead to 10 points.

The response from France came in the 13th minute through Cyril Baille that Romain Ntamack improved as the gap between the two teams came down to three points. The opening quarter came to an end with second Biggar's penalty kick in the 18th minute as the scoreline became 7-13.

Around the half-hour mark, Virimi Vakatawa's offload found Teddy Thomas allowing Antoine Dupont to dot down and Ntamack improved it as France's went on to take the lead for the first time.

As Samson Lee left the field in the 33rd minute, Dupont scored his second two minutes later and Ntamack kicked the extras the opening half ended with a 21-13 lead for the home side.

The start of the second half saw Biggar and Ntamack exchange penalties and Dupont continued his good work as he sent Charles Ollivon over the line in the 66th minute that Ntamack improved it to take France's lead to 28-13.

Nicky Smith scored a consolation try for Wales in the 69th minute but Teddy Thomas capped off a fantastic game for France with a touchdown in the 73rd minute to complete a 38-21 win.

Teams line-up:

France starting XV: Anthony Bouthier; Teddy Thomas, Virimi Vakatawa, Gael Fickou, Vincent Rattez; Romain Ntamack, Antoine Dupont; Cyril Baille, Julien Marchand, Mohamed Haouas, Bernard Le Roux, Paul Willemse, Francois Cros, Charles Ollivon (capt), Gregory Alldritt

Reserves: Camille Chat, Jean-Baptiste Gros, Demba Bamba, Romain Taofifenua, Dylan Cretin, Baptiste Serin, Arthur Vincent, Thomas Ramos.

Wales starting XV: Leigh Halfpenny; George North, Jonathan Davies, Nick Tompkins, Josh Adams; Dan Biggar, Rhys Webb; Rhys Carre, Ryan Elias, Samson Lee, Cory Hill, Alun Wyn Jones (capt), Aaron Wainwright, Taulupe Faletau, Justin Tipuric.

Reserves: Sam Parry, Nicky Smith, Dillon Lewis, Seb Davies, James Davies, Gareth Davies, Rhys Patchell, Louis Rees-Zammit.