We knew it would happen France would put one game together and so it was that Wales had to dig deep but came through with a good win to secure the Grand Slam and Six Nations Championship of 2012.
France opted for the roof to be open and heavy rain before kick-off set the tone of the opening minutes as both sides made forced and unforced errors spilling the ball in contact and at times in open play.
It was France who opened the scoring with Yachvili posting a penalty, but Wales replied with a solo effort try from winger Alex Cuthbert, Halfpenny added the extras and kicked a penalty to take us in at 10-3 half time.
The second period and the game continued to see two power defences nullifing each other as France took the ball up only to be cut down by Welsh power tackles. France not to be out done also made their share of crunching tackles and the game stayed tense and exciting for the fans in the stadium plus the millions on TV. France however went further behind as Leigh Halfpenny slooted another penalty, only for Lionel Bauxis to reply 13-9 with 20 minutes to play. France came again and if the ball had gone wide could have scored but Dan Lydiate yet again scythed down the ball carrier and a French infringement relieved the pressure. With time running out Halfpenny took the score out to 16-9 and France ran out of time. So it was that all of Wales celebrated another Six Nations Champions side and we called this one correctly a narrow win for Wales. Final score:
Wales 16-9 France
Scorers
Wales
Try: Cuthbert
Con: Halfpenny
Pens: Halfpenny 3
France
Pen: Yachvili 2, Beauxis
Teams
Wales: 15 Halfpenny, 14 Cuthbert, 13 Davies, 12 Roberts, 11 North, 10 Priestland, 9 Phillips, 1 Jenkins, 2 Rees, 3 Adam Jones, 4 Alun Wyn Jones, 5 Evans, 6 Lydiate, 7 Warburton (C), 8 Faletau.
Replacements: 16 Owens, 17 James, 18 Charteris, 19 Ryan Jones, 20 Lloyd Williams, 21 Hook, 22 Scott Williams.
France: 15 Poitrenaud, 14 Fofana, 13 Rougerie, 12 Fritz, 11 Palisson, 10 Beauxis, 9 Yachvili, 1 Poux, 2 Servat, 3 Attoub, 4 Pape, 5 Maestri, 6 Dusautoir (C), 7 Bonnaire, 8 Harinordoquy.
Replacements: 16 Szarzewski, 17 Debaty, 18 Pierre, 19 Picamoles, 20 Parra, 21 Trinh-Duc, 22 Buttin.
Officials
Referee : Craig Joubert (South Africa)
Touch judges : Wayne Barnes and Stuart Terheege (both England)
TV : Iain Ramage (Scotland)