Wales v France LIVE: Result and reaction from Six Nations clash as hosts wilt under second half pressure

Warren Gatland has underlined Wales’ desperation to end their losing Six Nations run this season and claim what would be a statement victory over France.

Even though Les Bleus have produced nowhere near their standards of last year, highlighted by a comprehensive defeat against Ireland and home draw with Italy, they have claimed four successive Six Nations wins at Wales’ expense.

Despite several promising moments in defeats to Scotland, England and Ireland, new-look Wales are nil from three heading into Sunday’s Principality Stadium clash.

Wales captain Dafydd Jenkins said:

“Obviously, we are extremely disappointed to lose games, especially with the tight ones but in terms of staying composed, I think we have built game on game and I feel like we’ve got better.

“We are looking at the quality in the room we have, and we should be winning games, so that is really what we are striving for.”

Warren Gatland has underlined Wales’ desperation to end their losing Six Nations run this season and claim what would be a statement victory over France.

“We need to win, and that is what Test match rugby is all about,” Wales head coach Gatland said. “We desperately want to win. We feel we have been going OK and we want to try and put a complete performance together.

“We know we are on a journey, but we are trying to fast-track things as quickly as possible. A win on Sunday would be a good stepping stone for that.

“Whether they (France) come here to throw the ball around or play an off-loading game, or whether they go for being a bit more brutal upfront and play for territory, we have just got to make sure we are prepared for anything.

“We are desperate to get that win. We know we are not quite there and there is a lot of work to do, but we have put ourselves in games and put teams under pressure.

“They (France) have got a huge pack, but that is the challenge for us, it is about moving their pack around. We saw what happened to them against Italy, that they do tire and that creates opportunities.”

Wales will field a new centre partnership of Joe Roberts and Owen Watkin in the Six Nations clash with France.

They take over from established midfield pairing George North and Nick Tompkins, who have 155 caps between them, at the Principality Stadium.

It will be Llanelli centre Roberts’s first Six Nations start after making his Test debut against England last summer in a World Cup warm-up match.

Elsewhere, Wales captain Dafydd Jenkins has been switched from lock to blindside flanker, with Will Rowlands called up as Adam Beard’s second-row partner, while there is a late change at hooker - Ryan Elias is out, Elliot Dee is into the starting side and the uncapped Evan Lloyd is onto the bench.

Three France starters will make their international debuts as Fabien Galthie rings the changes for Sunday’s Six Nations clash with Wales in Cardiff.

Giant lock Emmanuel Meafou, versatile back Leo Barre and centre Nicolas Depoortere, who captained France’s Under-20s last year, will all earn their first caps in the starting XV.

Scrum half Nolann Le Garrec also makes a first start at international level, while tighthead prop Georges-Henri Colombe is also primed to make a first appearance from the bench.

Gregory Alldritt returns from injury to captain the side at No 8 with Thibaud Flament also fit to feature in the second row. Flament partners Meafou in a lock partnership that has worked well for Toulouse over the last few seasons.

With Matthieu Jalibert injured, another Toulousain in Thomas Ramos slides forward to fill the fly-half breach, allowing Barre to start in a backline containing four players aged 21 or under. Galthie again favours six forwards on the bench.

France start the game in desperate need of victory after drawing with Italy in Lille a fortnight ago to continue a disappointing tournament.

Wales will host England on the final weekend of the 2025 Six Nations with the fixtures for next year’s championship confirmed.

The two rivals will meet at the Principality Stadium in the middle fixture of “Super Saturday”, with Italy hosting Ireland and France taking on Scotland on the potential deciding day of the tournament.

France will kick off the championship against Wales on Friday 31 January in Paris, with England facing a daunting trip to Dublin and Scotland hosting Italy.

The 2025 tournament will be the last year of BBC and ITV’s shared deal to broadcast the Six Nations in the United Kingdom, with S4C again providing Welsh language coverage.

Centres of attention

Wales boss Gatland sprung two major selection surprises ahead of facing France by omitting World Cup centres George North and Nick Tompkins. Joe Roberts makes a first Six Nations start as North’s replacement – with Owen Watkin taking over from Tompkins – and it is a decision that has divided opinion.

There are those who understand the rationale at this early stage of a World Cup cycle to test an alternative midfield partnership, but others have been left baffled that two of Wales’ most consistent performers with 155 caps between them are not required on this occasion.

Masterstroke or misjudgement?

Good afternoon from a slightly murky Cardiff, where there are plenty of travelling French fans filling the streets around the Principality Stadium. After a vintage Six Nations Saturday, can these two deliver another championship cracker to send us to the final weekend on a high?

The challenge for Wales will be combatting France’s power game. In Uini Atonio, Emmanuel Meafou, Georges-Henri Colombe and Romain Taofifenua, the visitors can call upon four genuine behemoths with a combined mass approaching 600kg on the tighthead side of their scrum, and all offer plenty in the loose, too. I’m excited to see Meafou in the flesh again - he’s already one of the world’s best locks at club level, and was simply magnificent against Harlequins at the Stoop in the Champions Cup. Watch out for his jackaling hands at the breakdown - though it is hard to miss a man who is the size of a small planet.

France’s World Cup hangover

France had to cope with huge expectation and pressure to win last year’s World Cup on home soil, but it all ended in devastating fashion through a 29-28 defeat against quarter-final opponents South Africa.

They then saw mercurial captain Antoine Dupont switch to playing sevens ahead of the Paris Olympics and Les Bleus have simply not recovered during an underwhelming Six Nations campaign.

Will a first loss to Wales in Cardiff since 2018 now follow? Neither team has momentum, both sides are in the table’s bottom half, yet France appear to be the ones most vulnerable.

Winnett is a winner

Heading into the penultimate round of Six Nations fixtures, few players have made a bigger impact on the tournament than Wales full-back Cameron Winnett.

With Liam Williams, Leigh Halfpenny and Louis Rees-Zammit – all previous options in the number 15 shirt – unavailable to Gatland, he turned to 21-year-old Winnett and it has proved an inspired choice.

Winnett had played only 15 games of professional rugby before gaining a first Wales squad call-up, but after three Six Nations appearances he topped the statistics for metres carried and metres gained and was the highest-ranked back in terms of carries, leaving the likes of James Lowe and Duhan Van Der Merwe in his slipstream.