On a quagmire pitch at Taffs Well, they managed to outmuscle the French up front and struck through the boot of outside centre Michaela Reed in the second half to notch the only points of the game.

Having finished third in last year’s championship, Coach Jason Lewis will have been delighted to see his side improve so well after their horror show opening against England. On the day that wing Louise Rickard celebrated winning her 100th cap, the Welsh defence stood firm as the French tried every trick in the book to conjure the score they needed to leave home with a win.

Following on from the victory by the Wales U20 side against the French at Rodney Parade, Wales Women’s triumph added to a season of mounting success for Wales’s national sides.

The only low point for Wales was the injury to UWIC outside half Rachel Poolman. She suffered a spiral fracture of her fibula in the first half and is likely to be ruled out for some time.

Wales Women: Naomi Thomas (Clifton); Louise Rickard (Woodbridge), Michaela Reed (Birchgrove), Clare Flowers (Clifton), Hayley Baxter (Cardiff Quins); Rachel Poolman (UWIC), Amy Day (UWIC); Louise Horgan (Saracens), Rhian Bowden (Clifton), Claire Horgan (Lichfield), Rachel Taylor (Cardiff Quins), Claire Donovan (Saracens), Catrina Nicholas (Bath Ladies), Jamie Kift (Clifton), Mel Berry (capt, Clifton)

Replacements: Natalie Bowen (Whitland), Ruth Evans (Waterloo), Nicola Evans (Wasps), Jenny Doyle (Bath Ladies), Laura Prosser (Pontyclun), Bethan Walsh (Wasps), Aimee Young (UWIC)