France 43-19 Wales: Battling U20s physically outclassed by defending champions

Wales U20s were no match for the 14 men of France as the defending champions overpowered Mark Jones' side in their final World Rugby U20 Championship pool match.

Four months ago, France had run in 11 tries against Wales during the U20s Six Nations, and their physicality in Cape Town on Tuesday meant they were always on top even when reduced to 14, and even 13 at one point.

Wales, to their credit, created plenty of opportunities throughout, but they were not enough to ultimately trouble the French. The men in red are now are likely to contest places 5-8 in the competition with Argentina and South Africa to play later on Tuesday evening.

Some of that ambition and inaccuracy was Wales' downfall, as was the case with France's first try. Of course, that desire to push the envelope with offloads largely stemmed from just how physically dominant France were.

After French fly-half Clement Mondinat had opened the scoring from the tee, Wales sought to trouble the scorers almost immediately. However, a loose offload from Dan Edwards saw French wing Mael Moustin pick off the pass near his own line and race away. While he ultimately didn't have the pace, he managed to find fellow winger Nicolas Depoortere in support with the French skipper dotting down for the opening try.

A few minutes later, France were reduced to 14 after hooker Barnabe Massa was sent to the sin-bin for a dangerous clearout. Soon after, it would be upgraded to a red card from the TMO bunker, but by the time it had been made permanent, France had crossed for two more tries.

The first came through more brutal French physicality. After a rolling maul had travelled from the edge of the 22 to within 10 metres of the Welsh line, the physically imposing Posolo Tuilagi