The 14-11 victory may not have lifted them off the bottom of the table, but it earned them their first points of the campaign and put them in great heart ahead of a trip to Gloucester to face England in Round 4.
“We took advantage of the conditions and put pressure on the French. In the first two games both Italy and Ireland were better at putting pressure on us,” said Wales head coach, Gareth Williams.
“We worked a lot on things from the Irish game in Round 2 and the boys implemented that really well. When conditions turn against you like this in a game we spoke about ‘Calon’, heart, being huge for us.
“That showed out in the game, along with some quality play under difficult circumstances, I’m really proud of the players and the coaching staff. It was a huge sign of character the way in which they defended the line with those four or five scrums on our line.
“We won’t get carried away with it. It is a nice progression for us, and something we can feel proud of. It is a young team within the age group, but we want to expose these players at the highest level for their age to push them on to regional and international rugby.
“To be able to come out and compete like that, and finish a game off like that, is superb and they should be very proud of that.”
The winning try came in the second half from outstanding Wales No 8 Morgan Strong, who was driven over from a line-out. He picked up the Man of the Match award.
“It is an amazing feeling. We have really worked hard for this – we were full of heart and we got the job done. It was my first try for a year, so I’ll take that,” said Strong
Half backs Ellis Bevan and Sam Costelow guided their side through the game and it was a break by Costleow that set-up Bevan for the opening try playing into the wind. That was a vital blow that paved the way for victory.
Ellis Bevan
The first couple of games were tough but we managed the conditions really well. After we led 7-6 it was there for us to win and it showed the character in the squad.
“Scoring my first try for Wales was special, but even better coming against the world champions. This gives us some momentum going into the England game,” said Cardiff Met student, Bevan.
Costlelow is due to return to Wales from Leicester this summer after signing a contract with the Scarlets. Despite carving out the opening for the first try, and then kicking two conversions, he was quick to heap praise on the Welsh forwards for their sterling work on a filthy night.
“It just shows the effort we have put in over the last few weeks. We got the result we wanted. The forwards gave us the platform to go into the second half with our noses in front and they did a cracking job,” he said.
Ireland took another step towards a potential Grand Slam as they beat England 39-21 in Northampton. They top the table with 15 points, while Wales now have four.
