Wales hold slender lead at break

Wales 9 France 6

James Hook kicked three penalties to give Wales the edge after a tense first-half in their Millennium Stadium showdown against France.

Wales, chasing a second RBS 6 Nations title and Grand Slam in four seasons, saw the Ospreys fly-half keep his nerve as he landed three out of four shots at goal.

Scrum-half Jean-Baptiste Elissalde replied with two penalties for France, the second after Wales centre Gavin Henson was sin-binned for a high tackle, but try-scoring chances proved few and far between as defences dominated.

Wales were led out by Gwenan and Manon Gravell, the daughters of late Llanelli legend Ray Gravell, who died last year and was a member of the 1978 Grand Slam team that beat France in Cardiff.

Ospreys lock Ian Gough, who won his 50th cap, followed them as they carried the Triple Crown trophy won by defeating Ireland in Dublin last Saturday.

France made a lively start, but that was negated when fly-half James Hook picked up and offloaded brilliantly to centre Tom Shanklin, who combined with full-back Lee Byrne and sent wing Mark Jones clear.

Jones slipped as he tried to cut inside France’s last line of defence, yet sustained pressure was rewarded when Hook slotted a seventh-minute penalty.

Hook’s opposite number David Skrela then sliced the restart so badly that it drifted backwards, allowing Wales the put-in to a scrum on halfway.

And that was the cue for further Wales territorial dominance, although Hook missed his second penalty kick when he drifted the ball wide, giving France a let-off.

Wales still had an appetite to press wide, using the lively Byrne and ever-alert Jones to threaten French defenders at every opportunity.

Hook kicked a second penalty in the 19th minute, giving Wales a richly-deserved 6-0 lead.

France’s first scoring opportunity came just two minutes later, and scrum-half Jean-Baptiste Elissalde made no mistakes from straight in front of the posts, 25 metres out.

But French indiscipline was never far beneath the surface, and Hook’s third successful penalty hoisted Wales 9-3 clear.

France though, were not noticeably troubled by the deficit, and they enjoyed a prolonged period inside the Wales half as Elissalde expertly mixed his tactical kicking game.

Centres Jauzion and Damien Traille also proved a handful, yet Wales, having conceded just two tries in the championship, had no intention of letting them through.

And Byrne’s steepling 40-metre clearance kick sparked huge cheers from a crowd aware of just how strong a defence Wales now possessed under coach Shaun Edwards’ direction.

Wales were impressively efficient in shutting out French attacks, and they deservedly trooped off six points clear, although not before centre Gavin Henson was sin-binned for a high tackle on France flanker Fulgence Ouedraogo.

Elissalde booted the resulting penalty.