A brilliant first half performance was once again undone after the break as Wales U20 fell to a second successive defeat at the World Rugby U20 Championships in Rovigo.
Having led Argentina 24-7 at one stage in the opening half of their first outing, before falling to a 34-27 defeat, Wales squandered a 21-7 advantage against France to lose 35-21.
Their cause wasn’t helped by a yellow card upgraded to a red in the 60th minute against replacement prop Louie Trevett, who was penalised for an illegal roll at a breakdown that saw Noa Traversier leave the field with a serious knee injury.
At that stage it was 21-21 after the French had begun to dominate proceedings in the second half, but two more tries carried them to a bonus-point victory. With two full houses against Spain and Wales they are now well placed to reach the semi-finals, while Wales are destined for the 5th-8th place play-off once again provided they can beat Spain in their final pool match.
Dragons RFC duo Harry Beddall and Evan Minto started in the back row for Wales Under-20s while Owain James and Harri Ford were used replacements.
