On this day in 2006: France fight back to defeat Wales and clinch Six Nations

France’s 21-16 win over Wales at the Millennium Stadium proved enough for Les Bleus to win the Six Nations title, on this day in 2006.

Wales led for almost the entire game, but Florian Fritz’s converted try five minutes from time in Cardiff finally swung it France’s way to give them a two-point advantage at the top of the standings.

Ireland still had hopes of snatching the trophy away going into the final weekend but France’s win left them needing to beat England by an unlikely 34 points.

Though they triumphed 28-24 at Twickenham thanks to Shane Horgan’s dramatic last-minute try, they would instead have to settle for the Triple Crown.

Wales had certainly done their best to aid the Irish cause. French indiscipline had seen Raphael Ibanez sin-binned and Stephen Jones kick a couple of early penalties for the hosts before Hal Luscombe’s try gave Wales a 13-6 lead at the break.

There was a sense it might not be France’s day as Damien Traille and Jean-Baptiste Elissalde missed penalties early in the second half to keep Wales out in front.

Dimitri Szarzewski crossed following a line-out to give France hope, but Elissalde missed the conversion before Gavin Henson’s penalty padded the Welsh lead.

The main drama was still to come, however. Frederic Michalak won a race with Shane Williams to prevent another Wales try with 10 minutes left.

And that allowed Fritz to win it by grabbing Michalak’s chip with five minutes to go, with Elissalde adding the conversion to seal the victory.

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