Wales U20s lose opener

A strong second half proved in vain as Wales U20s lost their opening World Rugby Championship fixture on Tuesday afternoon, 19-10 to France.

The French led 12-0 inside 15 minutes, and it was 19-3 in the second half, but Wales reduced the deficit late on.

Arthur Bonneval opened the scoring following a charge down on Dafydd Howells, the young Osprey playing at fullback, and shortly after Wales were back under the posts as Thomas Ramos scored in at the corner for a try that was converted.

A sloppy Wales were able to stay in the game through a strong forward effort, and should really have scored an opening try from Howells, but he knocked on over the line.

The only Welsh points in the opening period came from the boot of Dan Jones, a solitary penalty getting the scoreboard moving.

It was a disappointing Welsh performance and it got worse when a break from close to the line ended with Lucas Blanc touching down, Ramos getting his second conversion.

Wales finally crossed the whitewash in the final quarter,  centre Garyn Smith going over after some good work by the pack, Jarrod Evans converting.

Wales face England on Saturday night while France play Japan.