France insist there will be no complacency when they face a struggling Wales side in the Six Nations, despite their contrasting opening round results.
Les Bleus powered past Ireland 36-14 in Paris, while Wales slumped to a heavy 48-7 defeat against England at Twickenham, extending a miserable run of results.
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But France attack coach Patrick Arlettaz made it clear his side will not be fooled by recent scorelines.
“We’ve just played a great match against Ireland, we won, we’re off to a good start,” Arlettaz told reporters.
“If we take them lightly, it would be a lack of professionalism.”
Wales arrive on the back of 12 successive Six Nations defeats and have lost 22 of their last 24 Tests overall. Their only victory in that stretch – which dates back to their 2023 World Cup quarter-final exit to Argentina – came against Japan.
Last year, France ran in seven tries in a dominant win over Wales in Paris, with the visitors failing to score a single point. Few are tipping an upset this time around against Fabien Galthie’s star-laden outfit.
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Arlettaz, however, warned against overconfidence.
“We’re never safe from having a bad match,” he said.
“We’re very wary of this Wales team, which is young, who put together long passages of play, and who could really make life difficult for us.
“They’ve had complicated results for several months now, that’s true, but it doesn’t take much to turn things around.”
– AFP
Photo: Paul Childs/Action Images via REUTERS
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