With the clock in the red at the end of an all-time Championship classic, France needed a hero – up stepped Brice Dulin.
The full-back was in the right place at the right time to cross for the most dramatic of tries which kept his country’s title hopes alive while simultaneously dashing Wales’ Grand Slam dreams.
It was a fitting end to a game which had everything and Dulin’s match-winning score helped him crown an evening he will never forget with the Guinness Six Nations Player of the Match award.
There was more to the 30-year-old’s display than the last-gasp try. Dulin made more metres (138) with ball in hand than anyone else on the pitch at the Stade de France – he and teammate Virimi Vakatawa were the only two to see their tallies hit triple figures.
Last-gasp Dulin try denies Wales a Grand Slam and keeps France’s hopes alive
The influential No.15 proved a slippery customer for Wales to deal with throughout – breaking 11 tackles in the course of his 12 carries – and also put boot to ball with good effect, making 178 metres from his seven kicks.
And most importantly of all, he was there to provide the finishing touch to a well-worked overlap when France had a numerical advantage in the dying minutes.
Paul Willemse’s 67th-minute red card with France trailing 30-20 looked to have ensured Wales had one hand on the trophy but two visiting players being sin-binned in the final 10 minutes saw the pendulum swing.
Charles Ollivon’s score set up a grandstand finale and when Les Bleus worked their way back into the Welsh 22, Gael Fickou and Arthur Vincent timed their passes to perfection to give Dulin a run to the line.
The rest, as they say, is history – but France still have work to do if they are to win their first Championship since 2010. Find out all the permutations ahead of their re-arranged clash with Scotland by clicking here.
