I was too tired to celebrate – Edwards

SHAUN Edwards has spoken of the emotion he felt after helping France beat Wales during the Six Nations.

After disposing of England and Italy, Edwards was always going to be the point of focus when returning to Wales in round three with the French back in February.

And the 53-year-old admitted the build-up and day of the game was so exhausting, he was just too tired to savour their 27-23 win at the Principality Stadium against the side he’d helped coach to the World Cup semi-finals just a few months earlier.

“It was just very draining,” he told The Rugby Paper.

“It was very emotional for me to go back to Cardiff and, after winning that match, I was absolutely shattered. I just wanted to go back to my hotel room, sit there with a glass of wine and then go to bed.

“It was a game that could have gone either way. Wales have got some great players and coaches, but on the day we did enough to earn the win and our two young half-backs, again played really well.”

Edwards is currently in lockdown in France, like much of the rest of the world, with his two young daughters in the seaside village of Canet-en-Roussillon, near the Spanish border.

He said: “I was relieved my partner and our two daughters got over a fortnight ago because I didn’t fancy being on my own for four months again. The girls are aged five and three, so I’m having to learn how to educate them!

“We live about six miles from Perpignan and a lot of the Catalan Dragons lads live nearby. That was one of the reasons I came here. I intended to watch a bit of Rugby League, but that’s been cancelled. We’ve just got to get through this difficult period.”

Edwards reflected on his opening four matches as France’s new defence coach and admitted his main aim was to make the French people proud of their team again.

France were on course for a first Six Nations Grand Slam in a decade after sweeping to those wins over England, Italy and Wales.

But Les Bleus’ bandwagon came spectacularly off the tracks in round four at Murrayfield, though they can still win the title if their outstanding game with Ireland, at the Stade de France, is played in October.

Edwards added: “Somebody asked me before the Six Nations what my aim was for the competition. You say you want to win it, blah, blah, blah, but my aim generally was exactly the same as when I went to Wales: I want to make the French people proud of their team. I’ve always wanted fans to be proud of their team. If you achieve it, you’ll usually be in the hunt to win things.”