Wales captain Dewi Lake agreed with Tandy’s assessment that his side had delivered an improved performance.

“It’s weird to say looking at the scoreline but we were much better than we were last week for large parts of that game,” claimed Lake.

“France are a team near the top of the world and can create things out of absolutely nothing.

“They scored some world-class tries and have some world-class individuals.

“We know there’s things to mop up but we won’t hide away from that fact, or that we’re disappointed with the scoreboard.

“But, all in all, we were much more positive.”

Lake says the character of his squad cannot be questioned.

“The boys are never going to give up on a result or a Test match or a ball on the floor, anything like that,” said Lake.

“As captain, I don’t need to say anything. Those boys are ready to go anyway.”

Welsh fans will not doubt the players’ heart.

They are, though, right to question the quality of the national squad and the WRU’s stewardship of the game in Wales.

Record defeats are being normalised and the world rugby public are pitying this once proud nation.

That is where Welsh rugby currently stands. It is hard to be optimistic about that.