The French coach was only able to admire from the sidelines as his side became the latest side to fail to breach the Welsh whitewash.
Wales conceded just two tries in the five games in the 2008 RBS Six Nations Championship and despite defending for large periods of Saturday’s match, they looked unlikely to concede a five point score to the visitors.
“For one hour of the game, we were extremely courageous but we couldn’t find a way past the excellent Welsh defence,” said Lievremont. “We came here to compete, but were guilty of allowing Wales to take confidence from the atmosphere in the stadium.”
And Lievremont admitted the counter-attacking of Shane Williams sealed Wales’s 29-12 Grand Slam win.
“The turning point was the counter-attack of Shane Williams, he was brilliant all tournament,” he said. “As soon as he gets the ball he’s dangerous, he makes the most of chances, as Wales as a side have done. The match changed by his try. The result was not known at that point but that sealed it although 29-12 was too harsh a scoreline.”
As well as turning the match, Williams’s score took him clear of Gareth Thomas as Wales’s all-time leading try scorer. His sixth five-pointer of the 2008 RBS Six Nations also took him clear of France’s Vincent Clerc as this year’s tournament’s top try scorer.
