Dramatic last-gasp victory for French

But Wales opened their account with a Halfpenny penalty after fly-half Dan Biggar’s pass to unmarked wing George North was knocked on by Virimi Vakatawa, and after consulting with the TMO, referee Wayne Barnes sin-binned the French player.

The decision was predictably met by raucous booing, yet Halfpenny was not put off and an angled strike got Wales off and running after a difficult opening quarter.

And the full-back came up trumps again nine minutes later, this time bisecting the posts from 50 metres to keep Wales in touch, before France lost Lopez for a head injury assessment, with Francois Trinh-Duc temporarily replacing him.

Halfpenny completed his penalty hattrick just before the break to keep Wales firmly in touch at just one point adrift.

The opening 10 minutes of the secondhalf saw errors abound on both sides before Wales suffered an injury blow when captain Alun Wyn Jones was forced off with appeared to be a problem with his left arm.

Luke Charteris took over from Jones, while Wales’ interim head coach Rob Howley followed it with a double substitution, sending on Taulupe Faletau and Jamie Roberts for Ross Moriarty and Scott Williams, respectively, immediately after Halfpenny landed another long-ranger to put his team ahead for the first time.

Jake Ball followed his second-row partner Jones out of the action, meaning that reserve hooker Scott Baldwin went on as the visitors were left with just one recognised lock in Charteris.

Halfpenny and Lopez then exchanged penalties, setting up a tense final 10 minutes, but French indiscipline continued to dominate, and Halfpenny gave Wales a hint of breathing space with another penalty nine minutes from time.

France, though, finished strongly, camping in Wales’ 22 during chaotic dying seconds through a series of scrums, and the visitors ultimately could not hold out as Chouly struck for a try that Lopez converted.