Welsh effort pleases Hansen

Match photos Report: Wales 22-29 France

Wales coach Steve Hansen said his side did well to hold France to a seven-point winning margin in the RBS Six Nations on Sunday.

Hansen admitted his team had been outplayed up front and should be pleased with the 29-22 final score.

"You have to give credit to France. All rugby games are settled up front and they were just too big and too strong for us," said the Welsh coach.

"It was a courageous effort to get within seven points."

Hansen said his side still had a long way to go before they could compete on even terms with the top teams in the world.

But he insisted the battling display against the French showed Wales were back on the right track following their disappointing defeat by Ireland two weeks ago.

We are still a step down from the likes of England and the big guys but we are a lot more competitive Wales coach Steve Hansen

"I think pride has been restored," said Hansen. "The team stood up and played the best they could and unfortunately was beaten by the better side.

"We have to accept that and keep working to get better. There are areas which we know we can improve on.

"But we know it's going to take time, although we have shown that this team has progressed since last year.

"We are still a step down from the likes of England and the big guys but we are a lot more competitive - the Welsh public should get behind us."

Next up for Wales is England away at Twickenham and fly-half Stephen Jones is relishing the trip up the M4 to face the world champions, who lost to Ireland on Saturday.

"It's going to be great to play the world champions in their own backyard," said Jones.

"We know it's going to be a very difficult game but we nearly got a result against them in the World Cup.

"Ireland had a very simplistic game plan against England and they played it very well. But we have a lot of self-belief when we go there ourselves."

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