Wales' Six Nations campaign ended in defeat to France in Paris on Saturday but with shoots of optimism visible in the performance.
Warren Gatland's men started with vim and vigour at the Stade de France and took the lead through George North's well-worked try.
The hosts quickly hit back and established their dominance over the men in red, eventually running out 41-28 winners.
But just six months out from a World Cup, Gatland will no doubt be enthused by what he saw in the French capital against one of the best sides in the world at present. Indeed the head coach himself believes Wales will surprise teams at the tournament later this year.
This is what the UK media made of the match, the result and the wider implications for Wales after tumultuous few months on and of the pitch.
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Daily Mail - 'Significant signs of promise'
Funnily enough, this game also saw Wales show significant signs of promise, especially in attack.
The visitors scored four tries. But they also conceded five.
France’s display was not perfect but they were still well worthy of victory and their only sadness was that England couldn’t shock the Irish.
Still, it was further proof that while everything in their political world might not be flawless right now, French rugby is anything but rubbish.
It might seem bizarre for Gatland to be so positive after a Six Nations in which his team has suffered four defeats and be subjected to all manner of off-the-field distractions.
In 2023, Wales’ best players have had to cope with the strike threat they made ahead of the England game and seeing their country’s game besieged by contractual and financial uncertainty.
The hope is that Wales will get better from here on the field. They will have to.
Guardian - poignant introductions telling
If championships were awarded for artistic merit, this ought to have been enough to secure France a consecutive title. They blew Wales away when it mattered, which was either side of half-time, but they will bemoan the four tries their visitors came away with, three of them scored when it did not really matter, long after the result had been secured.
For all that the bonus point took France temporarily clear of Ireland at the top of the table, no one in Paris seriously thought their best efforts would be enough. France and Ireland are so far ahead of the rest that it feels as if whichever holds home advantage for their fixture will likely secure the title. This year it was Ireland’s turn.
England did their best to reward France for the way they humiliated them the week before at Twickenham, but the difference in class between the top two and everyone else is clear. This win over Wales was not quite that level of humiliation. Indeed, Wales began and finished the match with energy and efficiency.
Far from all bad, then, but it has been a dispiriting Six Nations for them, on and off the field. They have veered between the super-experienced and the very young this championship. It was poignant how the introduction of a few of the latter seemed to lift their tempo for the final quarter.
Scotland had obliged Wales by securing a win over Italy, which meant they would be spared the ignominy of the wooden spoon, whatever happened. Resigned to fifth place, they drew in the clean air and played their best rugby of the tournament. For 10 minutes or so.
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The Times - France in different league
Somehow Wales managed to score four tries to claim a bonus point themselves, making the most of France’s defence taking their foot off the pedal after they had stretched 34-7 ahead early in the second half. But France, with their electric backs enjoying the platform provided by a dominant scrum, were in a different league.
Throughout the tournament, Warren Gatland, the Wales head coach, had been alternating between the old hands who had served him so well in his previous tenure and the next generation, who are promising but not all ready to impose themselves at international level.
Telegraph - Wales' best rugby of the championship
The scoreline will tell a depressing story of sorts for Wales but what the numbers do not portray is that some of their finest rugby of the championship came in this match.
On the occasion of Taulupe Faletau’s 100th cap, the intent from the visitors was clear: do everything that England aimed to do last week, but could not. Every Welsh line-out in the first half was taken swiftly; the bellicose French pack were moved about; Wales played with pace in the wide channels; and France were often under pressure. The losing bonus point that Rio Dyer’s try secured in the game’s final stanza was no more than the visitors’ efforts deserved after having trailed by 34-7 just after half-time.
Wales’s desire to increase tempo at the start of the match led to their best 20-minute spell of the championship, too – and the brightest in Gatland’s latest reign. The visitors received their just deserts, when Rhys Webb’s tremendous miss-pass cut out the entire French midfield and George North raced unopposed under the sticks to open the scoring.
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