France 43-0 Wales: Six Nations 2025 opener – as it happened | Six Nations 2025

Key events

Andy Bulls’ report from Paris has landed and with that I’ll say goodnight.

That was a 5/10 performance from France and yet they put on a score that would please most opening partnerships in cricket.

Wales were decent but got walloped. “There’s a lot of good there,” says captain Jac Morgan. Where do they from from here?

I hope you go to Andy’s musings below. I’ll see you soon.

Cheers.

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Something I missed in real time on Ntamack’s red card incident.

Dan Biggar on ITV spotted it. Minutes before, Ben Thomas nailed the French fly-half. It was slightly late, but still legal.

Clearly Ntamack remembered that as he charged straight into Thomas’ head with his shoulder.

Pretty poor from someone who is supposed to be a leader. He’ll miss the game against England next week because of that recklessness.

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Here’s Gregory Aldritt who is the player of the match:

A big performance, it’s incredible to play in front of this stadium.

The key was to play as a team. We have a lot of really good individual players, but we wanted to play as a team. We did well. We’re happy with the performance. But we only did 20% of the job. We have to get back to work on Monday.

We know that the team is difference when Dupont is with us. He’s the best player in the world.

We have a massive pack. So if defences are trying to be narrow, that brings spaces out wide.

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Full-time: France 43-0 Wales

Seven tries to none, this is a shellacking however you slice it. The thing is Wales never looked like landing a blow. And even though France were far from their best, they had enough individual quality to blow Wales away and confine them to a 13th straight loss.

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80 min: France have forced Wales back deep into their own half. If they’re going to avoid the dreaded doughnut they’re going to have to go a long way. Tomkins collects a chip over the top around halfway and makes some yards. Then Morgan has it down the left wing and there’s a half chance…. but the inside pass doesn’t stick. That’s that.

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TRY! France 43-0 Wales (Aldritt, 78)

And another! That probably earns Aldritt the player of the match award. It started with Guillard serving as a surprise carrier off the top of the line-out that this time did not maul. He came close. Marchand picked and went. But it was Aldritt who collected and burrowed over to dot down. The conversion is missed but that’s immaterial at this point. This is some hiding.

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77 min: That’s a meaty kick that puts France back within touching distance of the Welsh line. They have the line-out throw about five out.

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76 min: A French scrum just inside their own territory on the left. Le Garrec box kicks and is charged down. Doesn’t matter. Thomas the lock is offside and is shown a yellow card for his troubles.

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74 min: Right then, can Wales make use of this man advantage and get on the scoreboard? Off a scrum they retain possession and charge into French territory. Eight phases but then Thomas fails to link with Liam Williams and there’s a dropped ball. Just so ordinary from Wales. It’s out for a line-out in fact. Either way, that’s a tame end to a tame attack?

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Red card! France (Ntamack, 72)

As expected, Ntamack, back for his country for the first time in 18 months, has been shown a red card. Can’t complain. The replays are pretty damning. High degree of danger and he’ll miss next week’s game.

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Updated at 22.10 GMT

72 min: Wales get the maul on from the line-out in the corner but France hold them up short of the line. Both teams send in support players to the standing maul as it drifts over the French try-line. it remains lifted and France win the ball. There’s a bit of afters with some pushing and shoving, but it’s all settled quickly. France clear to around halfway with a drop-out and Wales come again. Can they register at least one score?

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Yellow card! France (Ntamack, 70)

No doubt. A clear shot from shoulder to head from Ntamack on Thomas, who now sports a wad of tissue up his nose. Could be a red honestly. Not sure what Ntamack was trying to do. Never once dropped, his arm never rose. Clear red for me.

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70 min: Oh, lovely from Tomos Williams who chips over the line for Thomas who gathers as he runs through. The 10 tries his own kick, a diagonal grubber, but he can’t find the support runner. We’re coming back for a Welsh penalty though and it might be more as Ntamack’s shoulder smacked Thomas’ head.

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TRY! France 38-0 Wales (Gaileton, 68)

He scores with his first touch of the game! On as a replacement for Ramos, Gailleton dots down after Ramos finds him with a cross-field kick. Not straight to hand, but the bounce was kind and the replacement winger just had to be patient before stepping to score. Lively skills and hands in the build-up. It’s not structured, but it’s devastating when it works.

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Updated at 22.02 GMT

66 min: Better from Wales off a scrum inside French territory. Morgan picks up off the back and gives it to Tomos Williams on a wraparound. he injects some pace in the move and straightens. He searches for Liam Williams who feeds Adams on the wing. But Bielle-Biarrey wraps him up and soon Wales cough up the ball.

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64 min: France attempt a set strike play from a line-out on the left. Nothing special. It ends with a kick that dribbles beyond a chasing Attissogbe. A reminder than both French wings are on a hat-trick. They’ve seen virtually none of the ball since Dupont went off.

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62 min: Let off for Wales as Le Garrec knocks on at the base of a ruck after Marchand and then Baille carry with immense strength. Baille seemed to hold up the entire Welsh pack on his own as he got a second shove on and stormed towards the Welsh line. France’s big boys proving the difference in the closing stages. But Wales have which they win. A monstrous clearing kick from Edwards finds touch over halfway. Antoher Thomas (first name Freddie) comes on to win his second cap in the second row.

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61 min: A croc-roll against Wales hands France a penalty just to the left of the poles between the halfway and Welsh 22. Dee was the guilty man there. Not intentional, he just spiralled his torso as he cleaned out. Ntamack kicks to touch. They’re on the hunt for a sixth try.

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60 min: More of the same from Wales. Thomas finds Adams with a short pass. Rowlands carries but it’s all pretty innocuous. Eventually Thomas kicks possession away. Ramos gathers and hoofs down field. Too easy for the French defenders. Wales just don’t have the heft to run over tacklers. And they don’t have enough skill to work the space. A pretty meh display this half.

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Updated at 21.50 GMT

57 min: What can Wales do from here? Ten phases and they’re building something between halfway and France’s 22. But they’re making no progress. Just no imagination or punch. France can swarm over ball carriers and force the spill after Smith charges with intent. But there’s a French knock-on so Wales will get another feel of the ball from a scrum about 35 metres away from where they need to be

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TRY! France 33-0 Wales (Marchand, 55)

No stopping that. Once Marchand found his jumper it was only ending with a try. He was helped by extra bodies adding their heft to the maul. Wales were powerless to stop it. Ramos, for the first time tonight, misses. That was perhaps the easiest kick of the five.

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Updated at 21.46 GMT

54 min: Ntamack, who can now shine with Dupont off the pitch, sparked that move. He kicks into touch and asks his big mates to maul over the line.

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53 min: Ntamack canters through a hole in the midfield off slightly broken play. He’s away down the centre of the pitch, finds Le Garrec on his inside, Guillard keeps it alive. Aldritt then picks up off the deck and they’re into the 22. A Welsh hand gets stuck in and that’s a penalty on the ground right in front of the poles on their own 22. Illegally killing the ball right after a man strayed off side. They’re on a collective warning again.

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51 min: Ramos almost finds Bielle-Biarrey flying down the left after some scrappy play. As David Flatman on comms says, the French attack has actually been quite ordinary. Nothing really set, all just vibes and individual dazzles. Welsh scrum on halfway to the right.

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49 min: Salt in the wounds. France win the scrum penalty against the fresh front row of Wales. Smith seemed to have the upper hand, but that’s not how the refs saw it.

What’s Bom Squad in French because here come six replacements all at once. Dupont is off for Le Garrec. Guillard, Auradou, Marchand, Baille and Colombe on as well.

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47 min: Wales win the line-out, set the maul but then go down the line. All the way from the right wing to the left. Then all the way back. They’re making no yards forward. Strong defence. No cracks here. Eventually Wales drop the ball in contact after another short carry is repelled. Ordinary from the Welsh. No Plan B on attack.

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46 min: Front row changes for Wales as they opt to go for the line-out in the right corner. Smith, Dee and Assiratti all on in time for the maul.

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45 min: Brilliant interplay from Wales. Adams with the initial charge down the left wing who then found Morgan inside him who then found Tomos Williams who then kept it alive after that. They recycle and Reffell carries hard. In the 22. Edwards with a carry. Penalty advantage so they can chance their arm. They rush the pass and Bielle-Biarrey pounces on a loose ball and he’s away until the whistle sounds. High quality from Wales and they have the penalty inside France’s 22.

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Updated at 21.34 GMT

42 min: The second half has started with a bit of kick tennis. It ends with Meafou carrying into heavy traffic on halfway. Six phases kayer Dupont snipes. Cros picks up and stitches an off-load. Dupont spills it but backwards so Ntamack has to mop up. Then Ramos’ tip-on pass goes forward and that’s called. Lovely build up play but Wales will be pleased with their defensive sets. It’s from broken play or from kicks that the French are causing problems. When they’re running at a set defence they’re not finding a way through.

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Dean Kinsella agrees that Wales haven’t been awful, but there’s a catch:

Hi Dan, its fair to say Wales haven’t been that bad but its unfortunate this is their opening game. An absolute pasting may crush any optimism they may have had. They need a strong showing in the 2nd half, even though this game is obviously gone, to prepare themselves for the challenges to come.

Geoff Wignall has given me homework:

Hello Daniel, Please could you show your working for figuring that the third try pass was legal? Dupont made it from behind the five metre line and it was caught about a metre out. No question about who’s the far better team, but that was ridiculous. (I’m not Welsh.)

Can’t now, they players are out and it’s time for the second half.

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Stat from Russ Petty:

Wales down by 24, 20 & 28 points at HT in round 1 in last 3 Six Nations.

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Simon Fuller thinks at least a couple of those final passes drifted forward:

“Has the forward pass rule changed? Three of those tries looked very dubious. And yes, I’m Welsh.”

I can see why you’re asking, especially for the second and third tries. But I think they were both legal.

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Andy Flintoff (no that one, or so he says) has written in:

“So the IRB decided to punish dangerous play (head-on-head contact) by a red card, but the top teams didn’t like that as players were being sent off, so instead of training to improve tackle technique and tackle lower (and reduce risk), they forced the IRB to reduce the punishment to at most a 20-minute reduction in player numbers? Have I got that right?”

You know Andy, I’m glad you pointed this out. I never had a problem with teams being rightly punished if a player put in a dangerous tackle. But I also didn’t like games turning into something I didn’t enjoy because of a red card. I guess this is the closest we can get to having our cake and eating it.

I agree though. It’s not a perfect compromise.

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Half-time: France 28-0 Wales

Would you believe me if I told you Wales haven’t been that bad? Still, France are that good. And two tries apiece for their wingers, and a few dazzling moments from Dupont, Ntamack and Ramos, means it’s one-way traffic in Paris.

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TRY! France 28-0 Wales (Bielle-Biarrey, 40)

Inevitable. The maul was immense and got a roll on. Mauvaka at the base was inches away before it went down. Dupont then, calm as you like, as if he’s on the beach with his mates, unfurls a floating pass for Bielle-Biarrey on the left wing. he gathers, steps off his left foot and dots down. Ramos converts his fourth shot at goal and that’ll bring an end to a commanding half for the French.

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Updated at 21.12 GMT

40 min: France win the line-out but a strong counter shove from Wales keeps the maul at bay. Dupont has a dart himself and shows great strength. Wales give away a penalty five from their own line after a defender loses his feet. Then another strays offside. So although they prevent the try, they’ve now got a collective warning. One more penalty in the red zone and another man in red will get sin-binned. Ntamack again kicks it out on the right. They want another crack at a rolling maul try.

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39 min: Oh… almost another cross-field kick try-assist for Attissogbe, this time from Ntamack off the scrum. The winger was hugging the touchline but the kick was just a little too long and too far in front. But they had the penalty advantage from the scrum so Ntamack kicks to touch for a line-out on the left. Can’t see them messing this up again.

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37 min: Wales have looked alright when they’ve kept the ball, but yet again a poor kick hands possession back. It’s not that kicking from deep on that occasion was a bad call, it’s just that it was too far from the supporting chasers. France come away with it and a cheeky grubber from Dupont on halfway causes problems in the deep. After a bobble and few bodies chasing after it in the corner, Rogers dots the ball down. But it was carried back! France have a scrum five out. yet again Dupont with the ball on a string. Made life a nightmare for young Edwards who made a meal of that cleanup job.

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Updated at 21.03 GMT

Lloyd’s yellow remains a yellow. A silver lining. That he was the second tackler he probably gets away with it.

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TRY! France 21-0 Wales (Attissogbe, 34)

Magic from Dupont! From nothing, without any hint of danger, he carves the game open. At the base of the ruck, he picks up and drops his hip before exploding into space and upfield. He then skins Liam Williams before floating a pass over the top towards the right wing where Attissogbe gathers and – eventually – dots down. Ramos converts, because he doesn’t miss, and suddenly a hiding is on the cards.

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Updated at 21.03 GMT

33 min: France cough up the line-out. It’s spilled in the air and Reffell collects, much to the relief of the Welsh defenders. Williams hoofs it long off the box kick and Bielle-Biarrey carries back.

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32 min: France win the line-out and go down the right as quick as they can. But there’s a penalty in the line-out for intruding on the French set-piece (collapsing the maul that didn’t quite set?). Either way, Ntamack nudges it out again for another line-out.

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31 min: The Welsh scrum becomes a French penalty and Ntamack nudges it to the corner. France will have the line-out on the left.

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Yellow card! Wales (Lloyd, 31)

There’s a TMO review for a dangerous shot and Lloyd is shown yellow with a review to come. As he’s gone in to act as the second tackler on Bielle-Biarrey he’s made head on head contact and he has to go.

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30 min: Dupont again takes control off the back of the scrum but this time his kick doesn’t come off as they move down the left from the centre of the Welsh 22. That took a knock off a Welsh thigh so France build again. Bielle-Biarrey steps off his wing. Great defence from Wales forces a knock-on. Gareth Thomas and others immense. They’ve been really solid when given the chance to form a defensive set. Morgan and Reffell have also caused problems at the breakdown. Despite the score, and a few poor kicks, they’ve been handy.

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Updated at 20.53 GMT

28 min: Edwards has moved to fly-half with Thomas slotting in the midfield. They’re keeping the ball but then another aimless kick gifts possession away. Attissogbe, from his own 22, launches a bomb off his right boot and it looks like it’s bobbled out for a 50-22. No, not quite, just outside the Welsh 22. Still, a mighty hoof! And the Welsh line-out is sloppy and there’s a knock-on over the top. France have the scrum feed in centre field on the Welsh 22. France are dominating now.

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They’re not showing the Watkin injury replay. Could be serious. Knee? Some sort of ligament. Didn’t look good.

We come back for a Welsh scrum just inside their own territory to the left.

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There’s a delay as Watkin receives treatment. I’m not sure what’s happened but he looks in genuine pain. he was carrying into contact but went down before the tackle was made and was already crying out in agony. The stretcher is out. Hope it’s not too serious. Watkin is able to hobble off and is replaced by Dan Edwards, who makes his Test debut.

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Updated at 20.57 GMT