France V's Wales
After the French kick off, it became apparent both the Welsh and French forwards were both equally strong which set the tone for the match. First blood went to the 2002 World Deaf Rugby Champions Wales with Richard Evans making the break from the blind side, dummying the first pass going over the line for a try. Evans successfully made the conversion.
France began to settle in the latter part of the first half with the Welsh line-out simple errors creeping into their game. The Welsh came under pressure on the tight-head of the scrum, giving the French territory and possession.
The restarted ball kicked off by the French was well short of the 10 metres line and the Welsh forwards stopped playing as they expected the referee to blow the whistle. However, the whistle never came and the French winger ran through the frozen line to score a try. The conversion was perhaps justified missed.
The match became more brutal and no quarters were given by either country. In a scrum, Tyrone Hughes the Welsh 6ft 6ins, 20 stone plus was stamped at the back of his head that needed medical attention. Sporting white bandages on his head, Hughes returned in time to exchange punches along with others against the French in the scrum.
Wales were penalised for going over the ruck and the French duly scored the penalty. James Evans was sin binned for a high tackle resulting in a defiant Welsh fight-back in scrums, which showed their superiority to the French. Unfortunately, the ball was kicked over the Welsh line and a hesitation in picking up the ball enabled the French to snatch for a try.
The French missed the conversion again and the half time score stood at 15 - 7.
Immediately in the second half, the French were penalised for a high tackle. Richard Evans scored the penalty to narrow the deficit to 15 - 10.
The French powered forward strongly and forced the Welsh to some errors winning a penalty 10 metres from the try line. The French No 10 picked up the ball quickly and ran over the line. The Welsh forwards weren't paying attention to the French, expecting a scrum and the French scored the conversion on their third attempt.
In the last seven minutes, the Welsh dominated the game and won a penalty, which Richard Evans scored. The World Champions found their composure and Richard Evans cleverly opted for a quick free kick on the French 10 metre line enabling the Welsh to drum the ball home overtaking most of the home defence.
At the lineout, No 5 Richard Watkins won the ball and passed to Chris Ratcliffe who popped it to Jason Evans who drove into the heart of the French back. Watkins picked up the loose ball and drove it over the try-line. Richard Evans made the conversion but was sin binned in the last minute for dissent. However, the Welsh won the penalty and Mark Williams' effort came short of the posts.
The final whistle blew and the French celebrated their first ever win over the World Champions at their third attempt with a 22 - 20 victory.
Post match comments:
|
Richard Watkins
- Wales No 5 Andrew Rees -
Wales Offside Flank Richard Davies
- Wales Coach |
David Beddock -
France Philippe Garcia
- France Coach |
Wales Team:
15 Steve Lloyd, 14 Luke Blackburn, 13 Mark Withey, 12 Ben Pritchard, 11 Tim
Parkinson, 10 Richard Evans Try (1) Cons (2) Pens (2), 9 Anthony Lewis, 8 James
Evans, 7 Andrew Rees, 6 Paul Gatry, 5 Richard Watkins Try (1), 4 Tyrone Hughes,
3 Andrew Lloyd, 2 Jason Evans, 1 Chris Ratcliffe.
Replacements:
Gareth Thomas, Chris Haddock, Gerwyn Cape, Steve Burnett, Paul Lewis
Man of the Match - Richard Evans
