'It was what we expected from France': Wales trying to build from losses says Taulupe Faletau
Taulupe Faletau will continue to put an emphasis on enjoying his rugby after making an outstanding return to the international arena.
The Wales number eight continued from where he left off against England at Twickenham by delivering another barnstorming display as France were pushed to the limit in Cardiff.
It was only Faletau’s fourth game of the season after spending seven months on the sidelines due to an ankle injury, but he was the game’s top carrier with 13, and also made more metres – 101 – than any other player.
With fellow seasoned campaigner Josh Navidi also back from injury and performing magnificently alongside him in the back-row, they proved influential figures behind Wales giving Guinness Six Nations leaders France a major scare before being edged out 13-9.
“I am trying to enjoy every opportunity I am given to play,” Faletau said.
“From being out for so long and watching from the touchline, it just makes you appreciate every chance you get.
“I think the boys are disappointed. We put ourselves in a decent position to win the last couple of games and came out on the wrong end both times.
“It was what we expected from France. They are niggly, especially in the contact area, and they got some key turnovers in key positions.
“We gave ourselves an opportunity, but we didn’t quite cross over the line.”
Italy are next up for Wales on the final day of Six Nations action next weekend, while a three-Test tour to South Africa in July will enable head coach Wayne Pivac to keep developing squad strength in depth ahead of next year’s World Cup.
Faletau added: “It’s building on what we did against France and last week against England.
“We will take confidence from playing against a team like France and having opportunities to win the game, and work on putting away the chances.
“It’s always a good thing to have, competition throughout the squad. The more people are challenging each other, the better.
“We will just drive each other forward to get the best out of each other.
“We put ourselves in a decent position to come away with a win. We didn’t do that, but we will take confidence from what we were able to create, the chances and pressure we were able to apply.”
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Skelton may be brought back for the Wallabies so that would be the only reason that may hinder Wilson. Easily the form, most skilful and game IQ of any Oz 8. Valentini’s best and favourite position is 6, but lineouts may be an issue with Skelton, Valentini and Wilson. Will be interesting what Schmidt goes for but for me Wilson should be picked on form. Schmidt rewards work rate, skill and consistency. All that glitters every so often won’t be in contention. Greely is one of those players that has a knack of making the right decision. A coach is going to love him because he knows week in week out he’s going to get the job done. The second try Greely wasn’t the guy who made the initial break it was Flook, Greely was at the bottom of the ruck when Flook was off along the sideline. Greely got up and made the effort to catch up with play but also read the play nicely and hit the pass from Campbell at pace and then held the pass beautifully to Ryan.
Go to commentsSharks deserved to be far further back by the last quarter. Their tackling was awful, their set pieces were disappointing, their defensive organization was poor (especially on the Kok side of the D line), they kept making unnecessary errors, and they never looked like cracking the Clermont defense during those first 60m. Masuku kept them in touch, with some help from the Clermont generosity on penalty opportunities. Agree with the writer of this article. It was belligerence, and ability to raise their pressure game just enough, that turned the last quarter into a Bok-style shutout. Clermont have a reputation of not playing the full 80m, and there was a bit of that for sure. But, quite often when the intensity of a team drops off in the last quarter credit is due to the opponent for tiring them out. At 60m, with the Kok try, you thought that just maybe the game was on. At 70m, with the Mapimpi contribution, one felt that Clermont were fading, while facing a team that would maintain the pressure game through the final whistle. Good win in the end, but the Sharks are still playing way below their potential. And with their resources, and a coach that has had enough time to figure things out, they are running out of excuses.
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