It had all started so positively as Gareth Jenkins men, playing with a verve and intensity rarely seen from them this year, surged into a 14-3 lead after just 15 minutes.

Alix Popham burst over down the blindside and James Hook then put Tom Shanklin over under the posts.

But France dominated possession, put Wales under pressure and stung them with 26 unanswered points.

Christophe Dominici jinked in for the first try, Lionel Nallet drove over for the second and fly-half David Skrela added 19 points with seven successful kicks from eight attempts.

Wales replacement centre Jamie Robinson scored an eye-catching individual try right at the death, but by then the game was already up.

After Skrela had opened the scoring with his first penalty, Wales hit France with two tries - their first of the tournament - inside five minutes.

The Welsh lineout pulled together brilliantly to capitalise on a sliced clearance from Dominici.

Popham burst down the blindside from the back of the lineout drive, plundered through two tackles and stretched to score one-handed in the corner.

Wales had their tails up and after stealing a French lineout, Jones chipped ahead for James Hook to collect and provide the scoring pass for Shanklin to dive under the posts.

Skrela landed a second penalty before Dominici, who had earlier been halted by an excellent cover tackle from Shane Williams, jinked off the left wing and slid through both Lee Byrne and Gough to score.

Serge Betsen drove forward but was halted just short of the line by Martyn Williams but Luke Nallet was driven over for the try.

Alun-Wyn Jones was injured in the goal-line stand and left the field to be replaced by Brent Cockbain, making his first Wales appearance since November 2005.

The try pushed France back into the lead and a long-range penalty from Skrela extended the advantage to 23-14 at the interval.

Wales hit France hard again straight from the restart and almost fashioned a sublime try after Shane Williams electric break.

Hook combined cleverly with Shanklin but they ran out of space in the left corner and blew what would prove to be a rare chance to turn the momentum.

Wales were forced to reshuffle the back division after winger Mark Jones hobbled off and was replaced by Jamie Robinson, with Shanklin moving to the wing.

Wales were conceding too many penalties under pressure and Skrela punished them with two more successful kicks as France opened a 15-point cushion before the hour was out.

In between time Jones had missed his second penalty attempt and handed over the kicking duties to Hook, who pushed his first effort wide.

There was one last hurrah for Wales, a reminder of how potent a force they can be, when Stephen Jones made a break through the midfield and sent Robinson away for the try.