Replacement loose forward Ross Moriarty scored a try six minutes from time to power Wales into the World Cup semifinals.
Wales' pipped 14-man France 20-19 in Oita on Sunday night (NZT), coming back from 19-10 down at the break, and 12-0 inside the first eight minutes.
The Warren Gatland coached Welsh now await the winner of the final quarterfinal, between South Africa and hosts Japan, which won't finish until early on Monday morning (NZT).
Les Bleus played the last half hour of the match with 14 men, after lock Sebastien Vahaamahina was red carded for recklessly elbowing Welshman Aaron Wainwright in the face.
This is the reason France lock Sebastien Vahaamahina copped a red card. Could it be the game-changing moment? pic.twitter.com/aChk8I5Jj5
— SA Rugby magazine (@SARugbymag) October 20, 2019
He apologised to his teammates as he left the field, and will no doubt have some explaining to do in the coming days.
After all, it was his brain-dead act early in the second half which swung the match Wales' way.
It will take some explaining for him to justify his decision to put Welshman Aaron Wainwright in a headlock, before firmly elbowing him in the chops as a decent looking French rolling maul closed in on the try line.
Instead of extending their 19-10 lead with half an hour play, Vahaamahina was sent packing by referee Jaco Peyper, who didn't need to think twice after footage of the incident was beamed on the big screen.
It was the third penalty against France when they were on attack, with a neck roll and high clean-out also costing them scoring opportunities.
Wales, who lost centre Jonathan Davies due to a knee injury shortly before kickoff, pulled to within six points when Dan Biggar slotted a 53rd minute penalty.
Then, just as it looked like France might cling on and to the unthinkable, they made a meal of a defensive scrum and Moriarty dived over, setting up Dan Biggar's go-ahead conversion.
In an electric match which exploded into life with three tries in the first 12 minutes, it was Les Bleus who bolted out to a 12-0 lead after just eight minutes.
Vahaamahina put the scoreboard attendant to work in just the fifth minute, when he crashed over from close range a couple of phases after a lineout drive came up short.
Renowned French flair was on show for their second just a couple minutes later, when centre Virimi Vakatawa made Wales No 8 Josh Navidi look like a fool as he setup openside flanker Charles Ollivon.
[Source:Stuff.co]
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