Wales Women coach Chris Horsman has called for a more ruthless approach from his players after they were condemned to a third successive Six Nations defeat when France won 50-0 at Cardiff Arms Park on Sunday.
The women in blue, semi-professionals, ran riot by crossing the whitewash eight times in total, displaying a physical, clinical quality that caused the hosts a huge headache.
France’s Cyrielle Banet and Laure Sansus both claimed two tries each, with Jessy Tremouliere adding 10 points with the boot.
It only took Montpellier wing Banet a few minutes to open the scoring in the first half, with scrum-half Sansus later diving over and Banet finding herself on the end of a cross kick to find space and ground the ball for her second. Full-back Tremouliere added the extras for two of the first half’s three tries, making it 19-0 at the break.
Wales showed real intent and grit in keeping themselves in the game in the early stages, enjoying territory, possession and space in France’s 22, but the momentum swung France’s way in a rather one-sided second half.
Lock Safi N’Diaye soon crossed the whitewash for a fourth, Sansus then picked up from a pack surge and went down the blindside to score a frustratingly easy try.
With Wales 31-0 down at this point, Wales replacement Lauren Smyth’s fine line break provided optimism, but it didn’t materialise as she was covered by several opposition players before the cavalry got to her.
France finished off with a further three tries, from Marine Menager, flanker Julie Annery and replacement Camille Boudaud.
Wales, who made five changes going into the game from their Ireland defeat, again failed to capitalise on early possession and territory, and coach Horsman identified accuracy as a must to improve on.
He told S4C after the game: “Any time you concede 50 points in any match, particularly in an international match at home, it’s going to hurt.
"Pretty much all the tries were conceded from turnover ball which, against the best teams in the world, they’re going to punish you.
“There’s lessons to be learned around the accuracy and looking after the ball, making the most of the possession we had, particularly in the first half. Against the best teams, if you don’t do that, they punish you.
“The pleasing thing is when they went through their phases in the first half, I think we coped with them defensively but one-on-one, those wide channels, we just couldn’t cope with that unfortunately.”
Wales next come up against England in two weeks on Saturday, March 7.
Horsman added: “There’s plenty we can work on. There were a lot of positives in terms of our line speed, particularly in the first half. The key for us, has been probably in all three of these games, has been managing our possession a little bit better.
“Also, when we get opportunities we’ve got to be more ruthless and take them.”
