Wales were humiliated – and the tragedy is that nobody was surprised

It was all looking so rosy, so hopeful, for Wales. After 17 minutes of the Six Nations opener in Paris, a match which no one expected the visitors to win, the scores were level. 0-0. France, playing with more than just a soupçon of clumsiness, looked rusty and Wales would have fancied their chances of, at least, keeping the score respectable if not quite pulling off the miraculous and earning an unimaginable victory.

Tommy Reffell, on early after a nasty gash to the face of Aaron Wainwright, was winning jackal turnovers; Tom Rogers was buzzing off his wing and troubling the lethal French back three aerially; Josh Adams was smashing people; the scrum had parity. Even the great Antoine Dupont looked a little rattled, twice being caught at the back of a ruck and sending an aimless cross-kick into touch with no team-mate chasing.

But as soon as Théo Attissogbé got on the end of a better-judged Dupont nudge, the Welsh performance unravelled into the Parisian night; and records tumbled with it. Seven tries conceded, a record loss on French soil, the Test losing streak extended to 13 matches, and the first scoreless Welsh performance for 18 years. It started as a night of hope but quickly descended into one where the hurt and humiliation of a “nilling” took top billing.

What is most galling, most tragic, for Wales, however – a nation with as rich a rugby history as virtually any on the planet – is that the defeat felt so predictable; de rigueur. Shellackings against the world’s top sides – after a 45-12 home loss to South Africa last autumn – are now the norm for a side which lacks confidence as much as it does class. It is telling that after Attissogbé’s opener the strategy went out the window, with head coach Warren Gatland admitting afterwards that Wales were guilty of overplaying. All it took was one try for everyone to start doing their own thing, resigned to the fact that as soon as Les Bleus turned their blue patch to purple, the result was a foregone conclusion.

It should be said that there was no lack of effort or heart. The proud Welshmen continued to punch until the very end, ending the match with just as much possession as the French. The difference was that France’s punch, when it came, was knockout; whereas Wales’, despite its gumption, was limp. France beat 27 defenders across 80 minutes to Wales’ 12; eight line breaks to five; a 93 per cent French tackle percentage to Wales’ 87 per cent; 12 penalties conceded to three. Endeavour was a friend but execution was foe.

Losing Wainwright early on and centre Owen Watkin to suspected ACL damage did not help Wales’ cause and surely Max Llewellyn, the impressive Gloucester back, will earn a deserved recall ahead of what is now a daunting trip to Rome, where Wales travel in order to prevent a record Six Nations losing streak of eight consecutive defeats. Gatland could do far worse than elevate Llewellyn straight into the starting XV, where he should have been on Friday night.

After the French defeat, Dan Biggar told ITV how that meeting with the Azzurri is Welsh rugby’s biggest game for 20 years. It is impossible to disagree. After the match, Gatland was not quite as dramatic but admittedly he addressed the issue: “It is an important game for Wales. We can’t hide from that. We need to get the monkey off our back.”

Until Italy face Scotland we will not know how Gonzalo Quesada’s side are shaping up but, in many respects, that is irrelevant. Should the Azzurri lose at Murrayfield on Saturday then they will be desperate to avoid the wooden spoon themselves, targeting victory at home against Wales as the perfect chance to do so; but should Italy defeat Scotland then Gatland’s side will know that the Italian promise of 2024 was no one-off.

Wales have a week in Nice to reflect on events in Paris before travelling to Rome, where the smart money says that victory will be required to avoid consecutive wooden spoons for the first time ever. The smart money also says that there will be plenty of Welsh heart, but what Gatland – rugby’s mentality monster – must inspire this week is confidence and class.

In five days, with that first Six Nations cut running deepest, it might be an impossible task.