Ryan Jones’s men have conceded only two tries in four championship matches to date this season and are on course to better England’s Six Nations record of conceding only four tries in 2002 and 2003.
With the Triple Crown already in the bag, Wales are now setting their sights on winning their second Grand Slam and Championship in four seasons – if they can beat the French at the Millennium Stadium on Saturday. To stop Wales from adding the RBS title to the Triple Crown trophy, France must beat their hosts by 20 points to overtake them at the top.
The current Six Nations record for tries conceded in the competition lies with England, whose future 2003 Rugby World Cup winning team let in only four tries during their Grand Slam campaign that season to equal their own record set the previous year.
“England’s World Cup winning side set the defensive benchmark, conceding just four tries in 2002 and 2003. With only two tries conceded to date, we are in with a chance of bettering that record,” said Edwards.
“One of those tries we conceded was an interception and the other came from a cross kick. In the other two matches we have had shut-outs and conceded nothing.
“That is testament to the hard work the boys have been putting in and it is something of which we are all really proud. The crowd have already picked up on it and you saw in the Scotland game that they were cheering us in defence just as much as in attack.
“This week our defence will have its toughest challenge with the French coming to town because they have gone back to their roots by employing their old attacking style.
“Their squad is overrun with flair players and we will need to keep our defence mean if we are to achieve what we are after. They present the ultimate test for us and we must ensure we are on our mettle if we are to keep them out.
“But what a record to break. The England team that did it in 2003 went on to win the World Cup, and that’s our benchmark. We have a chance of going one better at the weekend.”
France have never scored less than two tries against Wales in the RBS Six Nations Championship and have crossed 20 times in the eight contests between the sides in the competition since 2000. Wales tries conceded in the Six Nations:Â 12 in 2000, 15 in 2001, 18 in 2002, 13 in 2003, 13 in 2004, 8 in 2005, 15 in 2006 and 9 in 2007.
Prior to this season, Wales have only had two shut-outs in 40 Six Nations matches – the opening game of 2005 when we beat England at the Millennium Stadium and the defeat to Scotland at Murrayfield in 2007.
The current Wales team have shut-out Scotland and Ireland in the 2008 campaign, with England and Italy crossing for one try each.
