Wales will be ‘haunted for years to come’ after last-gasp France loss, claims Matt Dawson

Wayne Pivac’s side were denied the Grand Slam after full-back Brice Dulin crossed two minutes into injury time

Brice Dulin of France celebrates scoring the winning time in injury time (Getty)

The crushing Six Nations defeat to France will “haunt Wales for years to come”, claims Matt Dawson.

Wayne Pivac’s side were on course for a historic Grand Slam, but a dramatic conclusion at the Stade de France, which saw Taulupe Faletau and Liam Williams sent to the sin bin, led to full-back Brice Dulin crossing two minutes into injury time for a 32-30 home win.

And Pivac himself as admitted his side feel “numb” after getting so close, with Les Bleus now able to snatch the title away from them too - should they beat Scotland and claim a bonus point.

“In years to come, that Welsh side will have flashbacks to coughing up the ball on 80 minutes and letting France have one last opportunity,” Dawson wrote in his BBC Sport column. “It will haunt them - it is not a nice feeling at all.

“You get reminded of it, you still see it on social media. It absolutely haunts me and will do forever.

“Unfortunately I have been in that scenario far too many times, when the Grand Slam has been on the line and England have lost. There are going to be some sleepless nights for Wales.”

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While Pivac was gracious despite the loss, admitting an enthralling final 10 minutes contributed to “a hell of a game”.

“It’s quite a numb feeling after the boys put in such a fantastic effort,” saidd the Wales head coach.

“It was hard to defend at that point, but the guys had done tremendously well to hold out. It was one too many attack and certainly our discipline didn’t help us in the last 10 minutes.

“It was quite chaotic. The French management were vocal and quite rightly so.

“They were cheering their team on and we were very vocal in terms of hoping for a turnover.

“It just had everything that last 10 minutes. We’ll reflect that it was a hell of a game, but it was a frustrating last passage certainly.”