The Ospreys outside-half emulate Gavin Henson’s last-gasp heroics against England three weeks previously when he was called up to take a match winning kick with four minutes left to play in Aurillac. Moments earlier James Merriman’s side had seen the lead they had held since the 28th minute wiped out by the prodigious boot of Jean-Baptiste Dambielle as the unbeaten French side rallied strongly. With a full pack of forwards back on the field; No.8 Jonathan Mills was sin-binned in the 64th minute for a technical offence, the Welsh side mounted one last offensive and picked up a penalty forty metres out from the home posts.
Just as Henson had done for the senior Wales side earlier in the month, Jones stepped up to the mark and never looked like missing as he took his tally to ten points on a bitterly cold night. Having outscored their hosts by two tries to one, and proved to be the more creative side, it was a victory that Wales U21 thoroughly deserved to leave them sitting on the top of the table with games against Scotland U21 and Ireland U21 left to come.
When the Welsh team arrived in Aurillac the day before the game they found the pitch was covered in four inches of snow and that they were in the coldest town in France. Wales U21 lost Pontypridd centre Tom Riley with a blow to the head early in the match and as he departed so Jones kicked the first of his penalties to give the visitors the lead. The French were quick to respond and two penalties in the space of two minutes from Jones’s opposite number, Dambielle, gave the home side the lead. Dambielle was the third highest-scorer in the French Championship for the 2004-2005 season at the time, behind David Skrela and Stephen Jones, building a big reputation at Auch.
Wales U21 were solid throughout the night at the set-piece and it was from a Mills’s pick up at the base of a scrum on his own 22 that the first try came. Mills handed on to scrum-half Wayne Evans who then linked with Jones. The outside-half brought play back inside with a neat pass to Aled Brew and the wing burst clear to score at the posts. Jones converted to make it 10-6 at half-time and then added the extra points to a Mills try three minutes after the re-start to extend the Welsh lead to eleven points.
Dambielle launched the French fightback with a 48th minute drop goal and then kicked a third penalty midway through the half. Then came the only home try of the night when Lyons back row man Gerald Gambetta forced his way over. Dambielle’s conversion gave the French the lead once again and set the Welsh a tough test, but they came through it with flying colours as they earned a penalty at a ruck in the home half and Jones made it three wins out of three for his side and 9-5 to Wales U21 against the French in the series at this level.
