Winners & losers... the Wales hits and flops of Six Nations
IT was one of the worst matches since the Five Nations became Six 17 years ago and will only be remembered for the 19min and 55sec of added time.
Wales gave away penalty after penalty during it, which meant English referee Wayne Barnes wasn’t able to blow up for full-time.
France were camped on the Welsh try-line and the breakthrough eventually came when replacement backrower Damien Chouly forced his way over to level matters and outsidehalf Camile Lopez succeeded with the winning conversion.
So Wales went down 20-18 and slipped to fifth in the championship title, their worst finish since 2007 and during the Warren Gatland-Rob Howley era.
Where did it go right and wrong for Wales? Rugby Correspondent ANDY HOWELL picks his winners and losers...
WINNERS
Leigh Halfpenny The little maestro has received some unaccustomed criticism this Six Nations for his contribution in attack but the knockers forget the priceless contribution he makes in defence and with the accuracy of his goal-kicking.
It was his five penalties, some from difficult angles and long-range, which enabled Wales to overcome a 10-point deficit and grind their way into what appeared a 15-10 lead until those agonising minutes of extra time. Rhys Webb Although Wales, as a collective, didn’t have the urgency of last weekend’s fabulous encounter with Ireland, the scrum-half was again in the van of the effort.
He’s had a magnificent tournament and will surely compete with Ireland’s Conor Murray to be the Lions’Test No.9 in New Zealand at the end of the season. George North The big wing has been a different player since being warned he was in the last chance saloon by Wales defence coach Shaun Edwards.
He was back to his rampaging best against Ireland and didn’t miss a beat in defence in France. His appetite for rugby certainly looks to be back. Shaun Edwards He has regained his reputation as defence organiser after it sustained major damage against England last May, New Zealand the following month and when Australia came to Cardiff last November.
But Edwards has managed to find a way of plugging most of the leaks with Wales conceding just seven tries – only France had a better record with six – during the Six Nations. Ross Moriarty Probably nobody would have expected him to keep Taulupe Faletau out of the Wales team when the Bath No.8 returned to action from injury.
But Moriarty did just that and rightly so as he produced some consistent and telling performances, again being in the thick of the action to be a dark horse for the Lions squad. Justin Tipuric and Sam Warburton Although they wear No.7 and six they complement and know each other’s games, strengths and weakness.
Warburton and Tipuric even take turns in competing at the breakdown and have worked like a well-oiled machine in defencee, seemingly being joined at the hip.
LOSERS
The public Great Britain’s Olympic cycling king Sir Chris Hoy summed up the farcical ending in Paris when he tweeted: “The Welsh fans are going to miss their flights home at this rate.”
Even before those final near-20 minutes of added time, the game had seemed to drag on because it was so poor and low on quality. France’s doctor He will surely be hauled before the disciplinary beaks for claiming substitute prop Uini Atonio had suffered a head injury and had be replaced. It appeared Atonio had told Barnes he was fine, which meant they would not have been allowed to bring superior scrummager Rabah Slimai back on for the series of crucial scrums near the Welsh try-line. But the doctor suddenly appeared in camera shot and, when asked if Atonio had suffered a head injury, replied: “Yes.”
However, Atonio, who had been brought on for his mobility rather than scrummaging, proceeded to walk off unaided down the tunnel.
It was certainly a strange affair and an investigation must by held by Six Nations chiefs, World Rugby or both to decide if any rules had been broken. Wayne Barnes He didn’t cover himself in glory by his handling of the game during added time. Mind you, he didn’t get much help from TMO Peter Fitzgibbon when it came to deducing whether Antonio had suffered a head injury or not and was allowed to trudge off for strongman Slimai to return to the fold.
And, worse than that, even though it was Wales who would have suffered, notorious English whistle-blower Barnes gave so many penalties against them during those final moments he should have awarded a penalty try to end the agony. Rob Howley The controversy over ‘sub-gate’ should not be allowed to divert attention from the fact Wales finished fifth in the Six Nations with only Italy below them and fired too many blanks in attack.
Wales scored just eight tries – England touched down 16 times, Ireland and Scotland 14 – and have been blunt for far too long.
Wales continue to run out of idea the more phases they go through plus the conservative Howley missed a golden opportunity to experiment.