The visitors scored tries in the first 15 minutes through Alix Popham and Tom Shanklin to go 14-3 ahead, but Les Bleus fought back and deservedly claimed their third successive victory in the tournament.

Christophe Dominici and Lionel Nallet went over before the interval and David Skrela had a near-flawless display with the boot, the fly-half kicking 19 points to keep the scoreboard ticking over.

Ibanez said: What's important is that the group had the resources to turn the situation around.

We were calm, precise and that's what we have been working at in training.

They exploited our mistakes at the start of the game and they have dangerous players, we know that.

We had to act quickly as we could not allow the situation to go on.

We were aggressive and we had enough to turn it around. We were able to build the phases.

The team is gradually building.

France have lost three times in four matches against Wales at the Stade de France before Saturday.

Two years ago, the Welsh recovered from going behind early on to win 24-18, on their way to the Grand Slam.

Head coach Bernard Laporte, whose side beat Italy and Ireland early in the competition is delighted to have put the record straight.

The players are happy because they won at home. They are continuing to make progress.

Despite the defeat, Wales head coach Gareth Jenkins was content his side had shown a marked improvement on the 21-9 defeat by Scotland a fortnight ago.

The tries from Popham, Shanklin and Robinson were the first Wales had scored in this seasons RBS 6 Nations and for 20 minutes they gave France a real scare.

Jenkins said: We scored three tries. That was a positive.

But after surging into the lead, Wales could not shake the grip France placed on the game and conceded 26 unanswered points.

France limited the Welsh possession and Jenkins rued his sides lack of discipline during their long periods in defence, which allowed Skrela to boot five penalties.

He added: We defended for too long and we are too generous with our discipline.

But I thought the rest of our game was robust.