Wales win Six Nations title after France fall short in Paris as they are beaten by Scotland; Wales’ sixth title since 2000 and first under coach Wayne Pivac; Pivac says the team are “over the moon”
Head coach Wayne Pivac was in an emotional mood after Wales secured their sixth Six Nations title in 21 years after France lost to Scotland in a thriller in Paris on Friday night.
Les Bleus required a bonus-point victory and a winning margin of at least 21 points from their rearranged clash with the Scots to snatch the title but they fell short in a 27-23 defeat.
The result in Paris was welcome news for the Welsh, who secured Championship glory for the second time in three years.
Pivac’s men had been forced to wait an additional six days to discover their fate after the heartbreak of Saturday’s last-gasp 32-30 defeat at Stade de France denied them a Grand Slam.
Pivac told BBC Sport: “It was a hell of a game, wasn’t it? It reminded me of last week with the cards, people coming and going, penalties and missed opportunities.
“What a tournament it’s been. From a Welsh point of view we’re over the moon to have won the Championship. It’s a shame we couldn’t have done it as a group last week.
Congratulations to the Welsh rugby squad for their win against England and bringing the Triple Crown home! #WalvEng
— Mark Drakeford (@fmwales) February 27, 2021
“We don’t want to talk too much about last week, but we felt we did quite a bit in that game to have won it. As a game it wasn’t to be. It doesn’t take away from all the hard work that was done.
“We’ve come out on top of the points table and have won the tournament.”
Wales’ success marked a remarkable turnaround for head coach Pivac, who faced questions about his future having finished fifth in last year’s Six Nations.
Wales won just three of 10 Tests in 2020 and were unfancied ahead of the tournament.
But, after edging past the 14 men of both Ireland and Scotland, a 40-24 success over deposed champions England and a routine win against Italy were ultimately enough to hold off the challenge of Fabien Galthie’s talented French side.
Pivac, who succeeded fellow New Zealander Warren Gatland following the 2019 World Cup, said: “We are obviously very happy with how things are going in our camp and we’ve built nicely through the competition.
“Some great rugby has been played in this tournament and it is exciting times for all concerned.”
Surreal triumph
Wales fly-half Callum Sheedy saluted his team’s fighting spirit.
“I still think I’m going to wake up and it’s all going to be a dream,” said Sheedy.
“It’s all a bit surreal. We’re chuffed to be champions. The more people write us off and tell us how bad we are the better we play.
“When we have our backs against the wall, we come out fighting, and I think that’s what the Welsh nation is all about.”
