Nightmare for Abrahams as Boujard lands hat-trick

WARREN Abrahams is going to want to forget his first game in charge of the Welsh Women’s team as they were put to the sword in Vannes.

It had been 50-0 in Cardiff last year under different management and it was a baptism by fire for the South African as his team found themselves conceding three tries to France’s right wing Caroline Boujard in the opening 15 minutes.

Montpellier wing Boujard’s first try came after only three minutes, when she picked up at the base of a ruck and ran in from ten metres out. Three minutes later she was at it again when scrum-half Pauline Bourdon sped up the blindside and put Boujard over.

Bourdon added the extras to both scores and hit the target again in the 15th minute when Boujard rounded off a flowing French counter attack from a poor kick down field from the out of sorts Elinor Snowsill.

The Welsh outsidehalf missed touch with four penalty kicks, put a re-tart out on the full and kicked aimlessly all night. Up front, skipper Siwan Lillicraps’ pack were blown away by the power and physicality of the home side.

Wales failed to get into the home 22 in the first half and conceded a penalty in front of their posts that Bourdon kicked to make it 24-0 and then had no response to a driving lineout move that saw hooker Agathe Sochat crash over.

Bourdon’s conversion made it 31-0 to the French at the break. Whatever Abrahams said, Wales were much better defensively in the second half.

Unfortunately, their pack disintegrated to gift tries to the marauding No.8 Emeline Gros, the second of which Bourdon improved.

The stats showed 33 missed tackles and there was another try with debut full-back Emilie Boulard crashing over in the left corner after Wales had twice held up French players over their line.

They then pushed France off their ball, but Snowsill’s clearance merely gifted the ball back to the French who ran it back and grabbed try number seven.

Replacement hooker Laure Touye picked up an eighth try as the home side surpassed their Cardiff tally in the third minute of injury time with Wales flanker Georgia Evans in the sin bin.