visitors keep Grand Slam dream alive

France kept alive their dreams of a first Grand Slam and Six Nations title since 2010 with a tense 13-9 win over Wales.

Melvyn Jaminet had eight points and Anthony Jelonch had a try.

Dan Biggar had three penalties for Wales, but they could not break down the French defence.

Wales will play Italy in their final game of the Grand Slam, while Fabien Galthie's side will play England.

It was a third defeat in four matches for the defending champion.

Despite second-half territory and possession dominance, along with inspired performances by Biggar and Taulupe Faletau, Wales could not crack a French rearguard that was organised by a familiar face.

The France defence coach was part of Warren Gatland's Wales backroom team between 2008 and 2019, during which time they won four Six Nations titles, three Grand Slams and a World Cup semi-final appearance.

The closest chance came when Jonathan Davies failed to hang onto a pass in the second half.

France excelled at the contact area as they took their winning sequence to seven games.

Their first Six Nations silverware in 12 years is close.

• Relive the match and reaction as it happened: Wales v France

Rugby was back in the Six Nations for the first time in two years with the roof open at the Principality Stadium.

The game was played in front of some empty seats at a stadium that holds 74,500.

The reasons for the 11,000 absent fans were factors such as the game being held on Friday night and travel issues, Covid-19 concerns, Wales losing two out of their first three matches and ticket prices.

There had been talk of fewer French fans travelling, but that didn't deter the thousands who made the trip in fine voice.

Wales head coach Pivac made four changes with two of them being in the back row.

Since recovering from a shoulder injury, Navidi has only played one game.

The injured centre Nick Tompkins was replaced by Jonathan Davies.

Damian Penaud, who tested positive for Covid-19, was replaced by Gabin Villiere in the France side that defeated Scotland.

France showed their class with a flowing move for the only try, finished by flanker Jelonch, after a scoring pass from Jaminet, who also converted.

Concussion controversy

Wales scrum-half Tomos Williams tried to fall down on a couple of occasions after sustaining a head injury while attempting a tackle.

He was replaced by a different person. Tomas Francis was involved in a concussion controversy when he was injured against England.

Francis was passed fit to face France despite warnings it would be a grave mistake to select him from Progressive Rugby, a lobby group concerned with safety of players.

Pivac insisted that Wales had gone the extra mile in involving an independent concussion specialist.

The second Biggar penalty was set up by a Faletau tackle on Jaminet.

The hosts were struggling to deal with the verbal assaults of Antoine Dupont, with prop Thomas stopping him on one occasion with a low tackle.

The front row went off for a head injury assessment.

The home side could not take advantage of their line-out options because France was efficient at the breakdown.

Faletau was at the heart of the effort as the home side battled back to 10-9 at half-time, with the Wales captain slotting over a third penalty.

Jaminet extended the lead with a second penalty when Adam Beard was caught in the act.

A brilliant Biggar kick set up an attacking chance for Wales, but the hooker was held up over the line.

Wales, guided by Liam Williams, were gaining the upper hand in the aerial contest with both sides attempting high kicks to gain the ascendency in a cagey third quarter dominated by the whistle of referee Matthew Carley.

Wales' missed chance

The inside pass to Jonathan Davies went astray in the 22 with the French line in sight.

Wales held territory and dominance, but were defeated by France at the contact area.

Pivac replaced Jonathan Davies with Louis Rees-Zammit and Josh Adams with Gareth Anscombe.

France took off captain Dupont with eight minutes remaining, but Les Bleus continued to dominate the breakdown.

French fans were singing into the night as their team won.

L. Williams, Watkin, J Davies, Adams, Biggar, T. Williams, G Thomas, Francis, Rowlands, Beard, S Davies, Navidi, Faletau were all from Wales.

Replacements: Lake, W Jones, Lewis, Moriarty, J Morgan, and Anscombe.

France has Jaminet, Fickou, Danty, Villiere, Ntamack, Dupont, Baille, Marchand, Atonio, Woki, and Alldritt.

Replacements: Cretin, Lucu, Ramos, Lebel.

Matthew Carley was the referee.

Jaco Peyper andAndrea Piardi are touch judges.

Tom Foley is an actor.