Perhaps it was lost in translation, but Fabien Galthie’s declaration that Grand Slam-chasing France “performed reasonably” against Wales should be enough to strike fear into Italy, Scotland and England.
While the Welsh attempt to somehow avoid a third-straight Wooden Spoon, Les Bleus are hunting a first clean sweep since 2022.
Reigning champions France swatted aside Ireland in round one and ran eight tries past Wales in front of a large travelling contingent at the Principality Stadium.
Part three of the Grand Slam bid is against dangerous Italy in Lille on Sunday before Scotland away and England in Paris.
“We can’t stop moving forward,” said Galthie. “We are performing reasonably but nothing is sure.
“We expect a difficult encounter against Italy, so are still working. We had many great parts against Wales but we can do better.”
n some ways, what Les Bleus achieved in Cardiff was nothing special – Argentina, New Zealand and South Africa had already hit Steve Tandy’s side for half-centuries in the autumn.
The home side felt their performance was reasonable – and certainly better than in the round one hammering by England – yet they were still overwhelmed in all departments.
France scored their first try after 88 seconds and had three inside the opening 15 minutes, with 20-year-old centre Fabien Brau-Boirie scoring on his debut and electric wing Louis Bielle-Biarrey going over for his 23rd try in 24 internationals.
Bielle-Biarrey’s fellow wing Theo Attissogbe, who has replaced France’s all-time record try-scorer Damian Penaud in the side, scored twice in the second half as the visitors claimed their biggest Six Nations triumph in the Welsh capital.
They could have had even more with an attack marshalled by Antoine Dupont and Matthieu Jalibert racking up 28 line breaks, 31 defenders beaten, 1,136 carry metres and 24 offloads.
Instead, their final try came in the 60th minute from second row Charles Ollivon.
“When you play a team like that you have to be good at everything,” said former England and British and Irish Lions captain Martin Johnson on BBC One.
“France had zero worries because they knew they were going to win, they knew they were too good.
“They’re all so comfortable on the ball. When they’re confident and there’s no jeopardy, I was thinking ‘thank God I’m not on that field’.
“It’s so difficult to contain them when they’re that confident and don’t feel that anything is going to go wrong for them.”
Johnson won five Six Nations titles as a player but only two Grand Slams, so knows that potential banana skins lie ahead for Les Bleus.
“France are massive favourites to win this tournament, everyone is talking about how good they are,” he said.
“You’ve got to deal with that expectation. They’re looking very good, they’ve got huge depth, they’ve got massive confidence at the moment, but you’ve got to get them into a point where they feel pressure.”
Fellow former Lions captain Sam Warburton – who won a Grand Slam and title with Wales – believes that is easier said than done.
“France have got that double-edged sword of physicality up front and the ball-playing ability out wide,” said the former flanker.
“They’re so potent in attack, they’re so difficult to defend against. France are great, I love watching France.”
