France close to perfection

French rugby traditionally veers between extremes. At the start of the last decade there was Philippe Saint-Andre's "greatest try ever seen at Twickenham". In the middle of the '90s there was Jean-Luc Sadourny's "try from the end of the earth" against the All Blacks in Auckland. And, of course, there was that World Cup semi-final, the game from another planet.

Somehow a French team combining the discipline of a Victorian Elementary School with the work ethic of a Japanese car worker and the single-mindedness of a marathon runner isn't, well, very French.

After this almost contemptuous dispatching of Wales, France's new captain Fabien Pelous spoke of how they would have to eliminate errors if they were to beat England next week. But it was hard to see what those errors were. From the moment Christophe Lamaison dropped a smart 25-metre goal after 23 minutes to the outhalf's conversion of Emile Ntamack's try in the final minute, France were in complete control.

This was Graham Henry's 17th game in charge of Wales and their worst defeat. He was realistic, as only a New Zealander can be. "We're not a good side, we're an ordinary one. We have to play at 100 per cent to compete with the best sides. We played at 85 per cent. But we can't just make changes, we don't have the resources, the amount of worldclass players that the French have."

On Saturday only Scott Quinnell took the game to the French with some typically robust charges but he also became the first player to be sin binned in the championship for his head-high tackle on Lamaison three minutes after the break. Colin Charvis was lucky not to join him for a worse-looking challenge on Castaignede four minutes later.

Wales's game was disappointing in most aspects: from the lineout disrupted by Olivier Magne appearing in the middle, to the tactical kicking of Neil Jenkins - who was only allowed two kicks at goal - and the slipshod tackling which allowed Magne, Castaignede and Ntamack to race away for thrilling second-half tries.

Underpinning a performance in which France were able to withstand an early assault by Wales was a faultless display at outhalf by Lamaison. Standing deeper than Jenkins, he was able to keep Wales looking over their shoulders with some booming touchfinders. He kicked 21 points with effortless precision and tackled ferociously. His early hit on Wyatt set out France's stall as the visitors' defensive Maginot line refused to be breached.

Wales: Howarth (Newport); Thomas (Cardiff), Taylor (Swansea), Jones-Hughes (Newport), James (Llanelli; S Williams, Neath, 71min); N Jenkins (Cardiff), Howley (Cardiff; Smith, Ebbw Vale, 75); Rogers (Newport; John, Cardiff, 70), G Jenkins (Swansea; B Williams, Bristol, 77), Young (Cardiff, capt), Gough (Pontypridd), Wyatt (Llanelli; Voyle, Cardiff, 68), Charvis (Swansea; Lewis, Pontypridd, 60), Sinkinson (Neath), S Quinnell (Llanelli).

France: Castaignede (Castres); Ntamack (Toulouse), Dourthe (Dax; Venditti, Brive, 20), Lombard (Stade Francais), Dominici (Stade Francais); Lamaison (Brive; Penaud, Toulouse, 79), Galthie (Colomiers; Laussucq, Stade Francais, 77); Califano (Toulouse), Dal Maso (Colomiers; Ibanez, Perpignan, 73), Tournaire (Toulouse; de Villiers, Stade Francais, 73), Brouzet (Begles-Bordeaux), Matiu (Biarritz; T Lievremont, 44), Benazzi (Agen), Magne (Montferrand; Betson, Biarritz, 75), Pelous (Toulouse, capt).

Referee: C White (England).