"We were much more positive today"- Steve Tandy and Dewi Lake react to France defeat

Sunday, 15 February 2026 at 21:03

byHarry Tovey

In front of their lowest-ever Six Nations crowd in Cardiff, Wales fell to an agonising 54-12 defeat against reigning champions France.

Theo Attissogbe claimed a brace, which was accompanied by tries from Emilien Gailleton, Fabien Brau-Boirie, Louis Bielle-Biarrey, Matthieu Jalibert, Julien Marchand, Charles Ollivon and 14 points from the boot of Thomas Ramos.

Watch the Guinness Six Nations at your local Greene King sports pub.

Fabian Galthie’s side, after breezing through Ireland and now Wales, face Italy next Sunday in Lille, where they’ll aim to keep their Grand Slam hopes alive.

On whether they can achieve that, Tandy said: “

They’re a quality outfit,” added Tandy.

“The form team. Their power and offloading. They’re in a great space to achieve that, but the Six Nations is funny. There’s not a complacency there.

With that, a first win since March 2023 goes on for Wales as they are left to lick their wounds once again following a sombering afternoon in the Welsh capital.

Despite scores from Rhys Carré and Mason Grady, Wales were unable to stop Les Bleus from claiming a record win.

Speaking in his post-match press conference in the bowels of Principality Stadium, Steve Tandy said: “Obviously disappointed with the scoreline.

“You’ve got to tip your hat to France. There was more in us today. Parts of the game, with the path we’re on, there’s positives.

“There was intent against a class team. There was enough today where we can go back on Tuesday and work on things.

“Discipline and set-piece was better. There’s still areas we need to work on.”

With the 54 points conceded on Sunday afternoon, that adds to the tally of the already substantial 248 points in Tandy’s first six games in charge.

Whilst the defeat extended Wales’ losing run in the Championship to 10 games in a row at home, Tandy’s side were much improved from their poor outing in Twickenham against England.

“It’s weird to say looking at the scoreline, but we were much better than we were last week,” added Wales’ captain Dewi Lake.

“In patches, we put in some excellent attacking sets. But the last pass didn’t stick. We were much better in that game.

“France are a team at the top of the world. They can create things out of nothing. We know there’s things to mop.

“We won’t hide away from that fact, or that we’re disappointed. But we were much more positive today.”

Wales are now staring down the barrel of a third consecutive Wooden Spoon, as following Scotland’s impressive Calcutta Cup triumph over England, they’ll head to the Welsh capital on a high.

Ticket sales have also been widely discussed for the clash against Gregor Townsend’s side, as loads still remain available.

Questioned on the expected low capacity for the remainder of the Six Nations, Tandy added: “As I said, the players love the fans.

“Genuinely, we’ve got the best stadium and fans in the world. When they get behind the team at the end, with the scoreboard away from us.

“It does inspire us. There’s no way we’re winning the game at the end, but the crowd are still there. You can see with our players, but you can see their effort. They’re amazing.”