France's top rugby players were on Monday starting their preparations for their third game in the 2026 Six Nations tournament following a second convincing win of the campaign on Sunday evening.
On 5 February, Fabien Galthié's side thrashed Ireland 36-14 in Paris and on Sunday night they obliterated Wales 54-12 in Cardiff to take a four-point lead over Scotland in the competition for the six leading rugby union sides in Europe.
"The Grand Slam is what we've been preparing for since the start of the tournament," said France skipper Antoine Dupont. "And that means winning all the matches. The competition won't be over until the last day," he added.
"You can see the intensity of all the matches and the best way to get to the end is to take one match at a time and arrive in a position where you can actually do the Grand Slam."
Since the inception of the Six Nations tournament in 2000, Wales and France have each won four Grand Slams.
After the second round of the games in which Scotland beat England 31-20, only France can achieve the honour this year and stand alone with the record for clean sweeps.
"The way forward to the Grand Slam is to get back to our training centre to prepare for the encounter that awaits us against Italy on Sunday," Galthié said. "That's our long-term plan."
In the tie against Wales, debutant Fabien Brau-Boirie justified Galthié's faith with a try in the 15th minute. The 20-year-old Section Paloise centre also made 17 tackles and gains of 90 metres running with the ball in his hands.
Maintaining standards
Standing 1.9m tall and weighing in at 98kg, it took three Welsh players to bring him down towards the end of the match at the Principality Stadium.
"We knew we had to play a serious match and maintain the standards we set ourselves last week," France winger Théo Attissogbe told French broadcaster TF1 after scoring two tries in the rout.
"We took the game by the scruff of the neck," he added. "We tried to maintain that level throughout the match and it paid off for us."
As France basked in the glory of another resounding victory and taking a step closer to a record eighth overall victory in the Six Nations, Welsh rugby union chiefs were contemplating the double whammy of a team that has won only two of its last 25 Tests and the apathy of the public.
Only 57,744 attended the match at an arena that can hold 74,500 people.
It was the lowest Six Nations crowd in Cardiff since Wales started playing at the venue in 1999.
“I’m disappointed with the scoreline," said Wales boss Steve Tandy. "But you’ve got to tip your hat to France and what they brought."
