SHAUN OF THE RED DREAD
Wales had genuine gripes but Edwards is masterminding a French renaissance
WALES were left spitting feathers over the penalty tries that never were in a compelling contest at the Principality Stadium.
But for their recentlydeparted defence coach, Shaun Edwards, this was another feather in his cap as his change of style inspired a France side that is back on top after a decade in the doldrums.
With three wins and Scotland away and Ireland at home to come, France’s fate is in their own hands now.
The Six Nations is more complete with a competitive France and in no small part down to Edwards, who spent eight years making Wales a force and whose defensive makeover means the French are a nation reborn.
He said: “The impression I’ve had is that the French public – and actually the whole rugby public – are crying out for a good France team.
“Definitely the French people want a team to be proud of and hopefully we can provide that.
“The attitude has been first class. They’re really buying into how I want them to defend.
“The players dug really deep against Wales and they had to.
“We were playing a high-quality opponent on their own ground so we had to do something special. It was an epic encounter.”
For Edwards (above), who admitted he took a step towards the wrong changing room before kick-off after so many years with Wales, it was satisfying.
In outscoring Wales by three tries to two, the high-energy French deserved it although they walked a disciplinary tightrope with Gregory
Alldritt and Mohamed Haouas sin-binned.
Wales coach Wayne Pivac complained his side should have been awarded two second-half penalty tries.
He said: “There were lots of positives, it’s just disappointing about the decisions we feel aggrieved over. We work hard to try to improve our performance and I just think when the referees look back at one or two decisions from this game they might agree.” If his scrum complaint was a long shot, the deliberate knock-on appeal against Paul Willemse – when he knocked the ball down as Ken Owens shaped to pass to the unmarked Josh Adams – was more credible. Even the France second row admitted his heart was in his mouth.
“Those type of calls are always 50/50. It could have gone either way. If I tried or not, it doesn’t matter. I knew I had to go all in for the tackle,” said Willemse.