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Rugby Union

France continue march towards Grand Slam

25/02/2007

France continued their dominance of the Six Nations with a 32-21 victory over Wales in Paris yesterday.

Wales have won on three of their last four visits to the French capital and looked likely to cause another upset when they romped to a 14-3 lead inside 15 minutes.

Alix Popham scored their first try; the back-row forward claimed the ball off good lineout possession and crashed over for the score.

Steven Jones then orchestrated the second with a neat chip to James Hook on the flank who in turn fed centre Tom Shanklin who went under the posts to score.

However, France were not out of the game for long and struck back with two tries of their own before half time.

Winger Christophe Dominici claimed the first French try as he escaped the tackles of four Welsh players to dive in at the corner.

Lionel Nallet grabbed the second. The lock forward's try six minutes before the break gave Les Bleu a 23-14 lead at that stage.

France continued to add to their lead in the second half through the trusty boot of fly-half David Skrela. He rewarded French pressure with a succession of penalties as the home side extended their lead.

Skrela's personal points haul on the day was 19, enough to earn him the man-of-the-match award as he pulled the strings in the French midfield.

Wales gained a consolation try six minutes from time when Jones released Jamie Robinson to score their third.

But it was not enough to prevent France's third win in the competition this season as the champions look set to retain their trophy.

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