Wales were beaten 54-12 in a record defat in front of a record low crowd at the Principality Stadium
17:25, 15 Feb 2026Updated 17:36, 15 Feb 2026
Wales applaud their fans at the final whistle after another difficult afternoon(Image: Huw Evans Picture Agency)
This was the moment where the Welsh public finally voted with their feet.
A decade ago Six Nations tickets at the Principality Stadium would have been like goldust but times have changed. As a result of poor results and the off-field issues that have plagued Welsh rugby, a crowd of just 57,444 were in attendance.
This was Wales’ lowest ever crowd for a Six Nations game outside of Covid.
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The Welsh Rugby Union’s plans to cut one of Wales’ four professional clubs, with the Ospreys the most likely victims, had dominated the build-up to the Championship.
That is clearly a part of it but Wales have had huge crowds in the past despite off field turmoil. Fans do not want to pay a significant sum of money to watch a team with no hope of winning.
A general view of the crowd showing empty seats during the Wales v France match(Image: PA Wire)
This is what Wales have become; a side who have no hope against the bigger nations and are unable to keep the scoreline respectable, let alone win.
Whether readers agree with the WRU’s plans or not, something has to change. They have to create a system which produces more and better players.
Back to the immediate and it was another humbling defeat for Steve Tandy’s side. It is very difficult to see how he can improve things in the short-term.
In the media room deep in the bowels of the Principality Stadium a question was posed by journalists around how many Wales players would get into a combined Wales and Italy side.
The answer was between three and four. That is how far Wales have fallen and the structures underpinning the national side are nowhere near strong enough.
On the basis of the first two weeks of the Six Nations Wales are the worst team in the championship and it is difficult to see them beat Italy let alone Scotland.
It is going to be a long and arduous road back to any sort of respectability.
Welsh rugby is now pitied by the opposition.
Louis Rees-Zammit of Wales looks dejected (Image: 2026 Getty Images)
Roughly 15 minutes before kick-off members of the 1976 Five Nations Grand Slam winning Wales side took to the field with the likes of Sir Gareth Edwards and Roy Bergiers.
This was the biggest cheer all afternoon from the Welsh fans who were drowned out by their French counterparts over the next 80 minutes.
This was the fourth time Wales have conceded over 50 points in the Steve Tandy era and it is ludicrous the Welsh Rugby Union have left the 46-year-old without a full-time defence coach.
In the week leading up to the game Tandy revealed there were plans to fill that vacancy before the Nations Championship in the summer and boy do they need one with Wales conceding a staggering 302 points over the past six Test matches.
Wales had no answer to the speed and the ferocity of the visitors’ attacking game as France cut their hosts to shreds at times.
The gulf in class was astronomical and Wales were left chasing shadows when without the ball.
Wales did show a little more with ball in hand than they did at Twickenham, while the set-piece was a lot better, as was the discipline.
But they still slipped to a record defeat to Les Bleus.
The set-piece was a lot better than it was eight days previously with captain Dewi Lake responding with a significantly improved performance both at the lineout and around the park.
Wales fans have to accept that Wales are not in the same class as the likes of England and France, with Tandy’s side consigned to the bottom half of the table for at least the next few years.
Dafydd Jenkins of Wales commiserates with Adam Beard after his attempted kick led to a try by France(Image: Huw Evans Picture Agency)
It was the speed of the game which killed Wales as France made a remarkable 19 clean breaks in the first-half alone.
Alex Mann is an industrious player but he failed to slow down the speed of the French attacking ball.
It was a mistake not to select Tommy Reffell in this squad, a player who specialises at winning turnovers and slowing everything down at the breakdown.
Wales are a side in desperate need of some heft and physicality. They have very few players who can carry the ball and make significant post contact metres either.
Aaron Wainwright and Olly Cracknell are fighting a losing battle in this regard.
There is a crop of talented players in the Wales U20s set-up and importantly they are a side with plenty of size and physicality.
But it will be a long time before the likes of Tom Howe, Deian Gwynne, Luke Evans, Osian Williams, Carwyn Leggatt-Jones and Steffan Emanuel are ready for the senior national side.
All of Wales’ efforts must go into beating Italy on the final weekend but even that feels like too tall an order for Tandy’s battered troops.