France vs Wales live: Six Nations updates as Les Bleus battle for the title on Super Saturday

Rio Dyer believes a week in the sun helped lift Welsh morale ahead of them. Guinness Six Nations final France.

wales flew to Nice after defeating Italy in Rome Last weekend they tweaked their preparations to face Les Bleus on Saturday.

A difficult Six Nations campaign (3 losses 1 win) also saw threats of player strikes as off-field problems dominated.

The strike was averted before Wales was appointed to England, but the story as a whole still left its mark.

“There was a lot of pressure on Wales and it was a difficult challenge for the whole of Welsh rugby,” said Welsh winger Dyer.

“But we went out to another place in the sun, not in the snow and rain. It boosted the boys’ morale a little bit.”

In the final spin of Warren Gatland’s selection wheel for the 2023 Six Nations, the Welsh head coach is back with some of the team’s more experienced members. Taulupe Faletau moved cap number 100 to his 8th place, with Alun Wyn Jones joining the pack. I’m back after being completely ruled out against Italy.

Also in the starting group of forwards is Aaron Wainwright, a favorite of the last few years of the original Gatland regime, but new to this championship. Dunn his Bigger returns at fly-half and Nick his Tompkins and George North take over at centre. After Liam Williams was injured, Louis his Reese’s Zamit brilliance was preferred to the solidity of full-back Lee his Halfpenny.

Welsh XV: Wynne Jones, Ken Owens (Captain), Thomas Francis. Adam Beard, Alun Wynne Jones. Aaron Wainwright, Justin Tiplik, Taurupe Faletau. Rhys Webb, Dan Bigger. Rio Dyer, Nick Tompkins, George North, Josh Adams. Louis Reese-Zamit.

Replacements: Bradley Roberts, Gareth Thomas, Dillon Lewis, Dafyd Jenkins, Tommy Leffel. Tomos Williams, Owen Williams, Lee Halfpenny.

After his dynamite display at Twickenham a week ago, Fabian Garcy has made just two changes to his French, which he started at age 15. Paul Willemse was a casualty against England, but Roman Taofinua provides a suitably strong backup for the Rock, forming a beefy right flank in the French scrum and Winni Atonio returns after his suspension. was allowed.

Taofifenua’s elevation left space for another lock on the bench, with Montpellier’s Bastien Charlot ready for his Six Nations debut.

XV of France: Cyril Bayeux, Julien Marchand, Wini Attonio. Thibaut Flamand, Romain Taoffifenua. François Cross, Charles O’Ribbon, Gregory Aldrit. Antoine Dupont (Captain), Romain Nutamac. Ethan Dumortier, Jonathan Danti, Gael Fikou, Damien Pennault. Thomas Ramos.

Successors: Pete Maubaka, Reda Wardi, Sipili Falatea, Bastian Charlot, Sekou Makaro. Maxim Luk, Yoram Moefana, Melvin Jaminette.

I barely had time to catch my breath before Super Saturday Part 2. So it’s time to switch focus quickly to what happened in Paris.

The reaction to Scotland’s victory over Italy will be even more Independent This weekend, but for now, France v Wales…

A great summary of the final moments of the Italian tournament. It was very close for Kieran Crowley’s team, but it ended up being another wooden spoon in the end, and Scotland’s bonus points win should secure him third place.

Hat-trick, bonus points.

So in Italy it is very cruel, from a few meters short to under one’s post in an instant. Italy take a penalty in the scrum, so Ali his Price said “why?” and passed by his left side.

Duhan van der Merwe makes the first bust on the outside, supported by Blair Kinghorn, equally long-legged, galloping and imposing. A desperate Italian tackler dives right behind him but can’t beat the striding thoroughbred, with Kinghorn scoring his second hat-trick against Italy and Scotland scoring his 2023 goal. Add his five more points to his Nations final score of the Sixth of the Year.

Knock on! Michele Ramaro yells foul – sure the Scottish tackler was offside?

If you see this, the host will be there…

Italy are in their third match, but Scotland are holding up well. The boulder-like Manfredi’s first surge is sharp, coming within a meter, and Marco Zannon almost biffs through. Alessandro Garbisi jumps into the border between his two corpses in Scotland, but loses control.

Jamie Ritchie is back for another penalty as he has been warned for team discipline.

Italy’s forward power turned against the Scottish fringe defense to little joy. Wide, Juan Ignacio Brex crashes on take… but Scotland is offside.

Penalty to visitors. 5 points, 3 minutes. what’s the phone Marco Manfredi will soon tap…