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Dan Biggar from Wales is approached by Paul Willemse and Charles Ollivon from France. (Photo by Aurelien Meunier / Getty Images)
Brice Dulin scored an “incredible” stoppage time attempt to help 14 men France yet 32-30 win at home Welsh and prevent visitors from claiming a Six Nations Grand Slam.
Lock Paul Willemse was sent off by the hosts, who can claim the championship title on Friday if they seal an extra points victory over Scotland with a winning point margin of at least 21.
“The team believed in its stars, its destiny and its ability to climb the mountain,” France coach Fabien Galthie told France Televisions.
“We knew what was at stake, we knew the opponents, the dynamic they were in, so we knew what to expect, but the setting is incredible.”
Wales captain Alun Wyn Jones said losing two players in the sin-bin in the final 10 minutes proved costly.
“I thought we were pretty good for 80 minutes, but it was just those last few seconds. Our poor discipline brought a lot of pressure,” Jones told the BBC.
“We give France credit for those last 15 minutes. When we look back, discipline put pressure on, as well as excellent French play.”
France came shooting out from the blocks, showing their intent by choosing to kick to the corner rather than taking a penalty goal after five minutes as they sought a bonus point win.
Two lineouts later and blocking Romain Taofifenua crashed from a pick-and-go, Matthieu Jalibert converting.
Wales’ first foray into the opposition half followed the restart and they were denied a score when Gareth Davies was stopped by Charles Ollivon and Gael Fickou.
From the resulting scrum, Wayne Pivac’s Welsh team went through six phases and Dan Biggar went through with a clever crash ball, also converting to equalize the sides after 13 minutes.
The hosts reacted within 90 seconds when Dulin put a smart chip on the Wales defense, Jalibert caught and passed running back Antoine Dupont to go behind the sticks.
Jalibert added the extras before Wales responded for the second time in an entertaining opening quarter, Josh Navidi stepped up to claim his first five international points, Biggar added the extras to tie.
Biggar and French replacement Romain Ntamack, replacing Jalibert after a blow to the jaw, exchanged penalties to make it 17-17 at interval with Wales on the rise.
They kept up the momentum after the break and Biggar added a second penalty to make it 20-17 in the 47th minute.
His quick pace in the ruck was too much for France’s defense and after a beautiful kick and a favorable reading from the TV match referee, Josh Adams was awarded a try despite Dylan Cretin’s last defensive effort.
Biggar brought his tally to 17 points in proceedings as Wales led 27-17 with half an hour to play.
France responded quickly and Ntamack converted the seven-point game with a penalty after an armless tackle by influential Justin Tipuric.
Despite the points, Wales maintained absolute dominance over the game as they felt a clean sweep approaching in the twelfth tournament and a fourth for pattern Jones.
They were ruled against once again by TMO Wayne Barnes before Biggar scored a penalty for a score of 30-20 in the hour.
France then parried a shot on goal for a corner kick, Barnes back in action to rule out that hooker Julien Marchand had been stopped by three Welsh on the line after a rolling maul.
When France camped out in the Wales 22m, they overlapped and Dulin found a way, but the score was scored when Barnes spotted Willemse’s foul play in a ruck.
The South African-born padlock was found to have made contact with the eye area of Welsh prop Wyn Jones and was shown a red card with 12 minutes remaining, a third rival player sent off against Wales during this year’s Six Nations.
France continued to push the Welsh line and No. 8 Welshman Taulupe Faletau and winger Liam Williams received yellow cards for cynical play.
In a dramatic finale, French captain Ollivon scored and Ntamack’s points off the tee was a three-point game with the same number of minutes remaining.
After a series of impulses that led to the open space, Dulin duly crossed the corner with the 94 seconds clock on red to spoil the Welsh match and keep French hopes alive.
