The dust may have settled on a pulsating eighty minutes of rugby in Paris, but the sheer majesty of it will long live on in the memory of Welsh supporters.

Having leaked two tries inside twelve minutes, any hopes of remaining unbeaten looked highly unlikely, as the flair clearly absent from the home side in this championships opening returned even stronger.

First Yachvilli snuck his way in with a typical sniping scrum half score after only three minutes, before Serge Betsen unlocked the Welsh defence with a cleverly placed foot that floored Gavin Henson, in the resulting space wing Rougerie looked a class apart as he deflected a brace of hopeful tacklers to bundle his way over. Yachvilli then added a penalty.

Two Stephen Jones penalties edged Wales back into contention, and at least offered hope of an avenue of which to get back into the match.

Wales were staring defeat in the face, with Gareth Thomas exiting play with a broken thumb, that will keep him out of the rest of the championship.

In the past Wales would certainly have capitulated at this stage, but the tide has clearly turned under  Ruddock, with self belief very much at the heart of this side.

A try was needed and a slick Williams one two delivered, with Martyn feeding off typical Shane genius. The open side flanker ceased the moment once more, stretching for all his worth to leave the hosts' stunned and Wales buoyed with three minutes of test match rugby they could never have contemplated in the midst of being on the back foot for so long.

The match had been completely transformed, and belief was seeping back into the Welsh side, suddenly the Paris gloom was beginning to lift.

Yachvilli struck back once more, but the balance was more and more in the visitors favour, cutting loose in brilliant fashion.

Stephen Jones continued his superb afternoon with a break that would have been unthinkable just two seasons ago. Unfortunately Wales could not quite convert the chances they had, but Jones did add a penalty, and then a mouth watering drop goal to bring daylight to the score line.

My nerves were in tatters, and then six minutes of utter agony as France through the kitchen sink in, refusing to give in as they looked to grind out a victory that was as good as there's' after forty minutes of rugby.

Tackle after tackle, scrum after scrum the men in red hung on for dear life but that character backed by fitness was there at the death.

The scenes of joy at the final whistle appropriate for a match of such epic proportions.

Three down, two to go. Talk of you know what isn't necessary yet, Scotland will prove a tough nut to crack in two weeks time. Now is the time to take stock of just how far we have have come, and not forget how hard Wales have worked for this.

Click here for Zippy's player Ratings