Patience gets its reward as France edge it
FRANCE sealed victory over Wales in the most dramatic of fashion, as Damien Chouly scored the winning try in the 100th minute of the game.
With the visitors leading 18-13 thanks to six leigh Halfpenny penalties and the clock having gone dead, France camped themselves on the Welsh line and a series of reset scrums saw the pressure grow.
Referee Wayne Barnes refused to give a penalty try, despite yellow-carding samson lee and repeatedly blowing up against Rob Howley’s men.
But with 20 minutes of added time played, France finally broke through. Camille lopez added the simple conversion as Guy Noves’ men snatched victory from the jaws of defeat.
France dominated the first 10 minutes and Remi lamerat went over to score. lopez added the extras and then kicked a penalty to make it 10-0.
However, Wales fought back and three Halfpenny penalties saw them go in at half-time a point behind. He added three more after the break as the visitors looked to be on course for victory.
France, though pounded away at the line late on and a series of reset scrums saw the decibel levels rise further. It looked like Wales would somehow hold out but Chouly broke their hearts.
Wales captain Alun Wyn Jones, who was forced off with an arm injury, said: ‘Amusement that we got to 100 minutes on the clock.
‘It was an interesting decision that their tighthead went off after 90 mins,’ he added, referring to Barnes allowing the replacement of Uini Atonio with Rabah slimani. ‘There will have to be someone looking at that.
‘Irrelevant of what happened at the end there, we feel we’re a better team than that. Two from five (in this year’s championship) isn’t good enough.’