Wales failed to stop Grand Slam-chasing France's bandwagon but the sight of the visitors raising their hands in the air on the final whistle underlined how hard Wayne Pivac's team made Les Bleus work.
Les Bleus were triumphant, for sure, but they were also relieved as well.
It was a gutsy performance from Wales that saw them dominate the second half without scoring.
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Ultimately, the ordinariness of their play with ball in hand cost them.
Possibly, they could be there now and they still wouldn't have crossed the French line.
Fabien Galthie's team took the honours at 13-9 and will look to complete Six Nations clean sweep when England head for Paris next week.
MARK ORDERS runs through the winners and losers.
Winners
Shaun Edwards
Attempting to negotiate a way past a Shaun Edwards defence must be like trying to find a way out of Hampton Court Maze at midnight.
Bumping into things is the order of the day.
France missed a miserly nine tackles all game — just one in the first half and the rest after the break as Wales dominated the forward battle. The visitors restricted Wayne Pivac’s side to only one clear break all match and came up with important turnovers that helped put the brakes on the home team’s effort. Players were organised, motivated and efficient as they closed off openings and steered ball-carriers up blind alleys.
It was a masterclass from France defence chief Edwards, with Les Bleus able to hold on for their success.
If he’s not the best in the world at what he does, could anyone who’s better please identify himself by ringing the white courtesy phone in reception.
Dan Biggar
Wales couldn’t secure the win that would have been just reward for their captain.
Biggar didn’t deserve to walk off the field a loser.
France boast a number of players who are accomplished with the boot, foremost among them Melvyn Jaminet and Romain Ntamack.
But Biggar outshone them all.
His kicking was majestic throughout, with spiral bombs, a 50:22, conventional touchfinders to ease pressure, high balls to contest, a deft crosskick that should have been converted into a try.
A text-book tackle on Jonathan Danty underlined his bravery in defence as well.
And he didn’t miss with three goal-kicks.
OK, Wales didn't spark with ball in hand, but that was because they lacked complementary players in their backline.
Next Saturday should see Biggar's hundredth cap for Wales, and the expectation is that applause will ring around the stadium when he takes the field against Italy.
He'll deserve it as one of the toughest competitors playing rugby today.
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Will Rowlands
Here's another who deserves credit in defeat, with the evidence there for all to see.
Not many players trouble the highly rated Cameron Woki at the lineout; even fewer outwork him around the field.
Rowlands did.
The Dragons second row has been one of Wales’ top players in this Six Nations and he backed up a big display against England by standing tall again.
There was a line-out steal and five catches on his own ball and six carries that yielded 56 metres. Rowlands also didn’t miss once in defence: nine tackles attempted, every one nailed.
It was an effort that should encourage Wayne Pivac looking ahead to the next World Cup.
With Adam Beard also showing up well, overseeing a perfect lineout and putting in a shift around the field, Wales are all of a sudden looking decently stocked at lock with Alun Wyn Jones coming back into the mix.
Taulupe Faletau
There are some people who may be able to remember Taulupe Faletau performing badly for Wales.
But as those same folk may also be able recall the Wright brothers flying the first successful motor-operated aeroplane, we can't be sure it's a recent occurrence.
How good was the Wales No. 8 against France?
Very good and then a bit more.
What makes him exceptional isn’t just his ability to hit the heights.
It’s his ability to consistently hit the heights.
He’s the boy in the class who never performs badly in an exam. There are no excuses about the family dog chewing up vital revision notes. Whatever the circumstances, he bangs in an effort that earns him a gold star.
On Friday, according to the official Six Nations figures, Faletau made a startling 103 metres from 13 carries. There were also nine tackles, a turnover, offloads and passes.
After just two outings in the previous seven months, the 31-year-old’s displays in this Six Nations have defied logic.
Sam Warburton and BBC’s punditry team
Some ex-players fail to distinguish themselves as pundits because of their reluctance to tell it as it is.
A few state the obvious and offer little insight.
Warburton is different.
He constructively criticises as well as praises, knows the game inside out and is articulate with it. Rare is a match that he is working on that viewers can watch without having been enlightened in some way.
His stuff at half-time on poor tackle technique and how good practice is under-coached was excellent, with Martin Johnson chipping in with some sage comments as well.
It was good work on the night from all in the BBC’s team.
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Julien Marchand
Faletau looked better than the official man-of-the-match on the night, but Marchand still had an exceptional game with his work over the ball and carrying.
He's heading for team-of-the-tournament status.
Losers
Welsh lack of creativity
Wales won 61 percent of the possession and enjoyed 67 percent of the territory in the second half, yet couldn’t get the job done.
They made just one line-break all game and were unable to cross the French line.
There was a dearth of creativity behind the scrum and the question Wales need to ask is whether they are playing complementary players. On Friday, they desperately needed more invention in midfield, in particular, to ease the pressure on Dan Biggar.
Pivac will hope Nick Tompkins can add to his options after missing the France game through injury. But how far does the coach go in contemplating changes?
His challenge is to add sparkle while not jeopardising anything in defence.
Jonathan Davies and Owen Watkins both fronted up manfully with their tackling and organisation but Wales somehow have to sharpen their attacking game.
Davies, of course, failed to hold onto the pass from Faletau that would probably have yielded a try for Wales had it been taken. Pivac’s team were that close to claiming the spoils.
Every player has had such a moment and dwelling on that one will not serve Davies well at all. If it’s any consolation, Pivac will be familiar with the Scarlet’s many pluses.
But the coach will also know generally he has to bring about improvements when his side have the ball.
It’s his next big challenge.
Referee and TMO
Should France have been reduced to 14 men after replacement Thibaud Flament tipped Josh Adams upside down and let him drop in the 67th minute? Many home supporters thought so, but TMO Tom Foley and referee Matt Carley decided otherwise, even though Foley acknowledged the Wales left wing had been flipped “dangerously”.
At the very least, theirs looked a debatable call, with Adams fortunate to avoid a serious injury.
“He’s very lucky it’s not a yellow card,” said Jonathan Davies from the BBC commentary box. “The TMO said it’s a penalty, nothing else. But very lucky.”
Marginal calls can decide games.
Wales have been on the right end of some of those in the past; against France this big one didn’t go their way.
They could have decent grounds for feeling aggrieved.
WRU and the empty seats fiasco
Teams don’t come much more box-office than France right now.
Dupont, Ntamack, Fickou, Villiere, Jaminet, Alldritt, Baille, Woki — the names simply roll off the tongue.
These are the players who have helped lower the colours of New Zealand and Ireland in recent months and destroyed Scotland at Murrayfield in round three of this Six Nations.
Yet this weekend there were 10,000 or so empty seats for the visit of arguably the best team in the world to the Principality Stadium.
The Friday factor undoubtedly deterred some from going, with many seeing a Wales international as having a huge social dimension that can be best enjoyed on a Saturday.
And as ex-Welsh Rugby Union chief Gareth Davies said before the game, charging £100 for a ticket renders it almost impossible for a family to attend in Wales.
Have the WRU heard that there’s a cost-of-living crisis heading our way and spare cash will become increasingly scarce?
Everyone else has.
Charging £100 to watch a match that’s taking place in a relatively unpopular slot isn’t the way forward.
Perhaps charging such a price isn’t the way forward, full stop.
It shouldn’t be hard to work out.
Anyone struggling on that front need only count those empty seats.
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