Clerc crosses for a France try.

Wales coach Steve Hansen remained defiant despite watching his side pick up the RBS 6 Nations wooden spoon with their 33-5 defeat by France in Paris.

The result guaranteed Wales' first championship whitewash since 1995 but Hansen asked that his team be judged on their performances in this year's championship, not their final position in the table.

Memories of the abject displays against Italy and Scotland were in some part erased by the determination shown against England and Ireland, giving Hansen room for optimism.

"If you look at the table then we have been whitewashed but if you study the games then you'll see that we have made progress," said the Kiwi.

"England and Ireland beat us by a record margin last year so we have made progress.

"The Italy game was a painful defeat and one that we'll grow from. But all the other games were reasonably competitive.

"This time last year I was in a state of depression because we'd just been beaten by Scotland in one of the worst games of rugby I've ever been involved in."

Wales gave France and early scare when they crossed through winger Gareth Thomas in the third minute but once the home side had settled it was all one-way traffic.

Thomas Castaignede, Vincent Clerc and Frederic Michalak all touched down as the French used their glut of possession to good effect, with Wales falling away alarmingly as an attacking force.

But Hansen was pleased with his side's efforts and refused to lay any blame on fly-half Stephen Jones who missed three kicks at goal in the first half.

"It was a heavy defeat, bigger than we would like, but I'm proud of the boys. We started off very well but then learned some harsh lessons in not taking opportunities when they come along.

"You can't be too hard on Jones - normally he kicks everything out of sight and on the day we got beaten by the better side. They applied themselves brilliantly and outscored us three tries to one.

"We didn't really get our hands on the ball in situations where we could be creative and were put under a lot of pressure by the French. They defended really well and their kicking was outstanding.

"Our defence was superb considering what was asked of us. France are the best attacking side in the world when they get hold of the ball.

"But if you're asked to defend all day it's pretty hard to get hold of the ball."

Hansen took a swipe at on-going hostilities between the clubs and the Welsh Rugby Union, which he believes is having a negative effect on the national side and it's players.

Domestic rugby in Wales is due to switch to provincialism next year but a fresh dispute emerged last night over the financing of such a move.

"The biggest concern we have before our tour to Australia and New Zealand is that we don't flog the players to death in our club competition," said Hansen.

"It's ridiculous but that's the set up we've got. I've eluded to it plenty of times and until we get it fixed I'll keep eluding to it. We need to change and we need to unite - both the clubs and the administrators.

"If we don't face up to it then we are going to struggle. It's frustrating that people don't want to change but it's a case of pushing and pushing until we do change.

"I was aware of the problem in Welsh rugby when I started - though perhaps not the depth of it - and one of the reasons that I wanted the job was to come and help. If we get it right Wales can become a great rugby nation once again."

France coach Bernard Laporte was in no mood for celebration despite the victory, claiming the defeat to Ireland in Dublin three weeks ago had inflicted psychological damage.

"I am still frustrated by our match in Ireland," he said, before turning his attentions to tomorrow's decider between England and the Irish.

"If we'd beaten them (Ireland) we would look at tomorrow's match with the great expectation of retaining our title.

"But instead we will be watching television with friends, without being worried at all.

"The defeat cost us a lot and is definitely the biggest regret of our Six Nations campaign.

"If we look back on it we have got the best attack and paradoxically the best defence as well.

"Winning against England is always difficult, even nations from the southern hemisphere have problems beating them, but Ireland were beatable.

"We lost the match on penalties, on points we gave them, and that is why we lost the title in the end."

But the performance, despite a very poor 20 first minutes and recurring mistakes during the match, allowed the French to at least finish on a high.

It demonstrated that they could still be a threat at the World Cup in the autumn, though clearly Laporte has plenty of work to do between now and then.

"We saw good things and not-so-good things in today's match," the coach added.

"But we won with a decent margin so we can only be satisfied."

Laporte also felt Wales did not merit the wooden spoon, and suggested they have a bright future ahead.

He added: "We also have to give credit to the Welsh.

"I am still wondering how they could lose to Ireland last week (25-24), not to mention a good performance against England in their previous clash.

"They are definitely not at their right place. Their defence today was well organised, they were obviously willing not to die on the pitch and to win in France."

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