A hat-trick from the flying winger Anthony Sullivan crowned a clinical Welsh performance in which they disposed of the first of their group opponents. The St Helens player had been in some of the most prolific form of his career and against a defence which accorded him plenty of room to run, Sully was unstoppable.

But as with the European Championship, the foundations for the win were laid in the complete supremacy of the Welsh pack of forwards. Paul Moriarty was the best and gave a characteristic display of power. Their dominance allowed Ellis, driving at his best from scrum-half, and Davies to orchestrate the backs. Included in their ranks was Scott Gibbs, who made a solid international rugby league debut at centre.

Davies gave Wales the lead with two penalty goals and they were never really to be threatened. Iestyn Harris, destroying the French defence with his running game from fullback, set Sullivan up for two tries and Davies created his hat-trick. Harris scored an exciting individual try from just inside the French half and Devereux finished off the job with a try under the posts at the end.

Wales did have a couple of scares, the first being a nasty bang to captain Davies. The sight of him being helped