Wales have it all to look forward to

Wales 8 France 9:EVEN THE sun glinting off Auckland Harbour could not dispel the morning-after feeling – not just for Wales's sore-headed supporters but for rugby union itself. How often has the sport contrived to make a pig's hearing-aid out of a heaven-sent opportunity, as happened on Saturday?

Those of us who instinctively felt that Sam Warburton had been treated harshly in being red-carded were reminded of Usain Bolt’s disqualification at the World Athletics Championships in August. Then, as now, a split-second false move devalued what had been among the sporting year’s most eagerly-awaited moments.

Sooner rather than later, nevertheless, the Welsh squad will come to two realisations. The first is that they should have made a World Cup final even after playing with only 14 players, which is not something many teams have been able to say. An ounce more composure from either of their two outhalves, James Hook and Stephen Jones, would have made a massive difference.

And the second? Strip away the two agonising missed kicks that led to ill-deserved single-point defeats by the Springboks and the French and no team in the world has performed consistently better than Wales in these past six weeks. That might feel irrelevant at this moment but it should be some consolation once the immediate pain subsides. Not since the 1970s have so many neutrals gazed in admiration at a Welsh team and wished their own nations could harness the talent available to them to such stirring effect. Of course heroic failure is still failure but to suggest Wales are back at square one having not reached Sunday’s final is transparently absurd.

If good teams really do learn more from their defeats than their victories, the next four years could yet prove as fun as Saturday’s experience was depressing. Warburton, Toby Faletau, Dan Lydiate, George North, Rhys Priestland, Jonathan Davies and Leigh Halfpenny are all aged 24 or under. The outstanding Jamie Roberts turned 25 only this month.

Where others agonise about whether Test rugby is too tough for their little darlings, the Wales coaching team have invited their best young players to take physical and mental responsibility regardless of age. It has been enlightening to watch and proof that he who dares wins more often than not.

Had Stephen Jones’s attempted conversion not ricocheted off the left-hand post, it would have been hard to imagine the French mounting a try-scoring response. Wise heads argued that they did not have two successive good performances in them, and so it proved. Only their defence and the steady head of outhalf, Morgan Parra, who kicked three penalties and recorded a double-digit tackle count, did them much credit.

Mike Phillips, the scorer of the game’s only try after 59 minutes, had little doubt what the end-game will be. “France were poor and they are going to get blown away in the final,” said the scrum-half. “It is as simple as that.”

WALES: L Halfpenny; G North, J Davies, J Roberts, Shane Williams; J Hook, M Phillips; G Jenkins, H Bennett, A Jones, L Charteris, AW Jones, D Lydiate, S Warburton (capt), T Faletau. Replacements: P James for A Jones (10 mins), S Jones for Hook (46 mins), R Jones for Lydiate (56 mins), B Davies for A W Jones (61 mins),

FRANCE: M Medard; V Clerc, A Rougerie, M Mermoz, A Palisson; M Parra, D Yachvili; J-B Poux, W Servat, N Mas, P Pape, L Nallet, T Dusautoir (capt), J Bonnaire, I Harinordoquy. Replacements: F Barcella for Poux, D Szarzewski for Servat (45 mins), J Pierre for Pape (61 mins), F Ouedraogo for Bonnaire (75 mins).

Referee: A Rolland (Ire).