Thierry Devergie and Olivier Roumat of France jump to claim the ball
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Matches: Wales 19 - 29 France

The sending off of lock Kevin Moseley cost Wales the match against France and, ultimately, left them with the second of three consecutive wooden spoons in the 1990 Five Nations Championship. Coach John Ryan resigned during the tournament, leaving them in disarray.

But for Moseley's needless, idiotic stamping on French winger Marc Andrieu in the 32nd minute, the match and their season may have ended very differently.

Wales were not about to take the rugby world by storm when the Championship kicked off - they had lost eight of their previous 10 matches - but France were vulnerable, having lost four of their previous five games.

Short on confidence, riven with internal strife and selectorial inconsistency, France now resorted to the old guard minus the injured talisman, Serge Blanco. In his place was Jean-Baptiste Lafond, nicknamed the 'white Blanco', behind stellar names such as Philippe Sella, Patrice Lagisquet, Didier Camberabero and captain Pierre Berbizier. Names for the ages, but none with age on their side by now.

A lumpy pack was anchored by Jean-Pierre Garuet, the 36-year-old potato merchant and future deputy mayor of Lourdes, who also held the distinction of being the first Frenchman dismissed in an international back in 1984. He had taken the medicine of a three month-ban and emerged as a respected, tough but fair prop, now playing his penultimate game for France.

Wales assembled a pack 4lb per man heavier than France with Phil Davies, usually a lock or No.8, picked on the flank to add bulk, an experiment only repeated once in his 46 internationals. Apart from the front row, who had played together once, none of Wales' key combinations - half-backs, centres, locks or back row - had played together before.

The French front row refused to engage at the first scrum, handing the initiative to Wales, who spent most of the first half hour within Paul Thorburn's range of the posts. Youth was winning over experience up front, Robert Jones marshalling proceedings with aplomb and Thorburn banging over the penalties. Though Lafond nipped through for a try from a five-yard scrum, Wales were on top of a ferocious forward battle until their discipline let them down. First Mike Griffiths was penalised for punching, Camberabero levelling the score at 9-9 after referee Fred Howard issued warnings to both sides.

Moments later, Moseley saw Andrieu's head trapped in a ruck and, in the words of Howard, who was right on the spot, "he weighed it up and decided to stamp. It was quite a vicious stamp around the head region. In those circumstances, you have no second thoughts."

The Cardiff crowd howled their disapproval, not of the referee but of Moseley as he trudged off. Coach John Ryan offered no excuses afterwards: "He let himself down, and he let Wales down".

The French eight continued to labour against seven of Wales, and when the hosts led at the break, thanks to a Mark Titley try from Jones smartly taking a tap penalty, they dared to dream of a first win over France since 1982.

It was the French backs who shattered those dreams after Berbizier's half-time lecture. Camberabero hoisted a towering kick towards the Welsh line which Sella chased and took, leaping above Thorburn 10 yards out and going over to score.

Jones inspired his men once more, a drop goal from David Evans regaining the lead, 16-15. Camberabero then scored and converted a try but Wales came close to matching that when Arthur Emyr was bundled into touch just short of the line. Thorburn's fourth penalty brought them within a score at 19-21 and, had Moseley still been on the pitch, they might have scored again from a five-yard scrum.

France's Laurent Rodriguez is felled © Getty Images

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Instead, France had the final say as Lagisquet side-stepped his way past Titley to score the decisive try with seven minutes left. Laurent Rodriguez scored in the final minute to stretch the margin.

Moseley was unfortunate that his offence came at a time when the IRFB had ordered unions to clamp down on violence and poor discipline. The next day he received a hefty 32-week ban from the Five Nations disciplinary committee. Of the three Welshmen previously sent off in internationals, Geoff Wheel was banned for four weeks in 1977, Paul Ringer for eight weeks in 1980 and Huw Richards for one week in 1987.

Howard received support for the sending off from all quarters, revealing: "There was not a dissenting voice. The man in charge of Welsh Schools rugby told me that the decision had done more for Welsh rugby than any piece of writing or any words of warning could ever have achieved."

Wales went on to lose all their Five Nations matches in 1990 and had to wait until 1994 to beat France after 12 consecutive defeats.