Wales U20 keep their feet on the ground

With torrential rain and gusts of winds exceeding 50mph, the odds were firmly stacked against Wales who had yet to register a victory in the first two rounds of the Six Nations.

But a huge defensive shift, particularly on the cusp of halftime when Wales withstood five scrums within five metres of their own try-line, saw the men in red head into the sanctuary of the warm changing sheds 7-6 ahead.

Despite France hitting back shortly after the break, a converted Morgan Strong try led Wales to a thoroughly absorbing and deserved 14-11 triumph.

“We won’t get carried away with the win – it’s a nice little build and progression for us off the back of the first two games,” said Williams.

“It’s obviously something we are proud of, and something the coaches should be very proud of as I know how hard they have worked and managed the boys.”

After making seven changes to the starting line-up, Williams also paid tribute to those who didn’t make the trip north as well as the unused subs who have all played their part in the championship so far.

“We didn’t use the bench at all, except for when we had the yellow card where Will Griffiths replaced Dom Booth, so that’s tough for the subs but the squad have been amazing since the Irish game and trained really hard as a group and they have really pushed each other so the boys who were still at home and the subs who didn’t get on, deserve a huge pat on the back,” he added.

Loosehead prop Theo Bavacqua, alongside his fellow forwards in the engine room, refused to take a step backwards in the heat of the battle as France battered away in vain against a staunch pack who refused to budge an inch.

“Going into the game we looked at the weather conditions and for me personally, as part of the front five, knew we were going to have to dog it out – and fair play, in the scrums and lineouts the boys came through,” said the Cardiff Blues prop.

Despite earlier losses to Italy and Ireland, Bavacqua says Wales went into the match confident in their own ability on the back of a fruitful two weeks together after the Irish defeat in Cork.

“I think there was a lot of belief coming in to the game – we had a good two weeks for prep and the boys were hurting after Ireland and there was a lot of energy in and around the camp. The second we took to the pitch [against France] there was a lot of belief.”

And that belief increased by the bucketload after Wales hooker Dom Booth got a yellow card and Wales were a man down as France went for the jugular in the dying minutes of the first half.

“I think there was five re-set scrums – and a yellow card – but the boys kept digging in and digging in and going in at halftime having kept them at bay was a real energy boost going into the second half.

“The boys knew we were up against it, but just said take it minute by minute, especially in those appalling conditions, one minute down in the sin-bin, then two minutes down, and so on.  Just stay positive, keep their points at bay whilst we had that yellow card and then just build from it when we get back to 15 men on the pitch. And that’s exactly what we did.”