France salvage pride

Saint-Denis - France salvaged some pride by beating Wales 28-9 to finish second in Six Nations rugby on Saturday.

Last year's Grand Slam winners were under pressure to redeem themselves at Stade de France following consecutive away defeats at England and Italy, and a disciplined performance gave them some encouragement for the World Cup in New Zealand this year.

Coach Marc Lievremont's five changes following last weekend's historic 22-21 defeat in Rome paid off, and France defended with steely determination.

"The explanation is simple: I think everyone was ashamed of their own performance last week. There were no big speeches to prepare this match," said lock Lionel Nallet, who scored two tries. "You could see it during the national anthems. We were close together, we had tears welling in our eyes and we know that we will turn up for the game in moments like that."

Nallet thinks the Italy defeat will become a source of motivation for France.

"In the weeks to come we will have to think about that defeat in Italy, about the disappointment we had and the sadness we felt so that it doesn't happen again."

Winger Vincent Clerc also dotted down, and scrumhalf Morgan Parra kicked France's other 13 points.

Flyhalf James Hook responded with three penalties for Wales. He was sinbinned midway through the second half for a late tackle on Parra.

"We gifted them two tries," Wales coach Warren Gatland said. "It wasn't a great performance."

His team has finished fourth every year since their 2008 Grand Slam.

The 34-year-old Nallet went over in each half, and Clerc ran onto flyhalf Francois Trinh-Duc's precision chip to race over for his 24th international try in his 48th appearance.

"We did what we had to do. It was a lot better, we concentrated much better and we were much more efficient," Clerc said. "Sport at the highest level comes down to a matter of small details, and tonight we went about things the right way."

Wales took an early lead through Hook, before the French forwards pressured Wales into a mistake and Parra leveled. He put France 6-3 ahead after 25 minutes of a scrappy half littered with turnovers.

Wales looked certain to score the first try in the 32nd when fullback Lee Byrne offloaded to winger Leigh Halfpenny, but Trinh-Duc made a superb tap-tackle to stop him racing into the right corner.

France got its first try just before the break after Wales lost possession some 30 meters from the line.

Nallet got the ball out on the right and sold a dummy to Trinh-Duc on the overlap before cutting inside at speed. His momentum carried him over the line, but Parra missed a routine conversion and France led 11-3 at the interval.

After Hook closed the gap to 11-6, an error from Hook gifted the French the second try.

Hock casually tried to kick clear but Julien Pierre charged it down and fellow lock Nallet galloped over the line to take his international try count to eight in 62 matches. Parra converted to make it 18-6.

"I started the match with a desire to get stuck in. When you want to get stuck in you move around more and you are sometimes in the right place," Nallet said. "That was the case today, and I have to thank Julien Pierre for the second."

Hook got another penalty to keep Wales in touch at 18-9, but Parra replied to make it 21-9 and Trinh-Duc fooled the Welsh defense with a brilliant chip over the top and Clerc did the rest.

Parra converted for 28-9 with 20 minutes left.

"The urgency wasn't there in the contact areas," Wales lock Alun-Wyn Jones said. "As players we won't make any excuses, it's very disappointing to finish the Six Nations like that. ... It's a pretty barren place in the changing room at the moment."

Clerc almost got another try with a wonderful jink and burst down the right, but the ball slipped out of his fingers a fraction before he could get it over the line.

The crowd broke into three loud renditions of the national anthem "La Marseillaise" after Clerc's try, seemingly forgiving Lievremont and his players for the debacle in Rome.

"It's a great night for me," Lievremont said. "I am emotional."

But Lievremont was left regretting what might have been after a sterling performance.

"I would have liked to win in England and in Italy," he said. "It was more chaotic than I had hoped for, but things turned out quite well in the end."

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France 28 (Lionel Nallet 2, Vincent Clerc tries, Morgan Parra 3 penalties, 2 conversions), Wales 9 (James Hook 3 penalties). HT: 11-3.