France have made it three wins from three in the 2020 Six Nations after an exhilarating 27-23 win over Wales at the Principality Stadium.
Les Bleus have kept their Grand Slam dreams alive with only Scotland and Ireland standing between them and a first Six Nations title since 2010.
Wales opened the scoring through a penalty from Dan Biggar but Les Blues hit back almost right away through a try from Anthony Bouthier.
Romain Ntamack converted to give the French a 7-3 lead after just eight minutes.
Biggar and Ntamack each added three points to their sides’ tallies before France looked to have scored their second try after a brilliant cross-field kick to Gael Fickou on the wing.
The try was ruled out however after Bouthier’s offload to Virimi Vakatawa in the build-up to the disallowed score was deemed to be forward.
It's a #GuinnessSixNations classic in Cardiff - and it goes @FranceRugby's way after a match that will be remembered for years to come#WALvFRA #GuinnessSixNations pic.twitter.com/iB0IIIfBTG
— Guinness Six Nations (@SixNationsRugby) February 22, 2020
It wasn’t long before France did get their second try though, with lock Paul Willemse powering over the line after peeling off the back of a lineout maul.
The home side did add another penalty but went into the break eight points down, with France leading 17 points to nine.
The Welsh started the second half strong with tighthead prop crashing over for a try after 48 minutes, closing the deficit to one point.
Just as Wales looked like they were gaining the upper hand Ntamack intercepted a pass from Nick Tompkins and raced clear to widen the gap to eight points once more.
The young fly-half increased the visitor's lead again 10 minutes later, splitting the posts from about 40 metres out.
The momentum once again swung in Wales’ direction and after a sustained period of pressure and a yellow card to Mohamed Haouas, Biggar went over for his side’s second try.
That left it Wales 23-27 France with just over five minutes remaining after Biggar added the extras.
It was a nervy finish but France just about held on in what was surely the game of the tournament so far.
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