Wales scored two tries and punished France through the boot of Leigh Halfpenny to keep their title hopes alive with a 27-6 win at Millennium Stadium on Friday.
Unlike their performance against Ireland a fortnight ago, the Welsh pack came to the party, dominating the contact zones and shutting down all French attacks.
Wales led 20-6 at the interval thanks to an opportunistic try from George North, five penalties from Halfpenny, some interesting refereeing from Alain Rolland and a few howlers from Jean-Marc Doussain.
It was a dominant opening 40 minutes from the defending champions, who hardly allowed the French into their 22.
The second half saw just a single score, but skipper Sam Warburton's try sealed the win that reignites the Wales' hopes of claiming a third consecutive title.
Wales – Tries: Sam Warburton, George North. Conversion: Leigh Halfpenny. Penalties: Halfpenny (5).
France – Penalties: Jean-Marc Doussain, Jules Plisson.
Wales – 15 Leigh Halfpenny, 14 Alex Cuthbert, 13 George North, 12 Jamie Roberts, 11 Liam Williams, 10 Rhys Priestland, 9 Rhys Webb, 8 Taulupe Faletau, 7 Sam Warburton (c), 6 Dan Lydiate, 5 Alun-Wyn Jones, 4 Luke Charteris, 3 Adam Jones, 2 Richard Hibbard, 1 Gethin Jenkins.
Subs: 16 Ken Owens, 17 Paul James, 18 Rhodri Jones, 19 Jake Ball, 20 Justin Tipuric, 21 Mike Phillips, 22 Dan Biggar, 23 James Hook.
France – 15 Brice Dulin, 14 Yoann Huget, 13 Mathieu Bastareaud, 12 Wesley Fofana, 11 Hugo Bonneval, 10 Jules Plisson, 9 Jean-Marc Doussain, 8 Louis Picamoles, 7 Wenceslas Lauret, 6 Yannick Nyanga, 5 Yoann Maestri 4 Pascal Papé (c), 3 Nicolas Mas, 2 Dimitri Szarzewski, 1 Thomas Domingo.
Subs: 16 Brice Mach, 17 Yannick Forestier, 18 Vincent Debaty, 19 Sebastien Vahaamahina, 20 Damien Chouly, 21 Maxime Machenaud, 22 Rémi Talès, 23 Gaël Fickou.
Photo: David Rogers/Getty Images
