WALES U20 picked up the first win of their Six Nations campaign with a 14-11 victory over France at Stadiwm Zip World in Colwyn Bay.

Gareth Williams’ side handled the blustery conditions extremely well to pick up a notable success against a talented French outfit, which is sure to boost confidence ahead of their crunch clash at England on March 6.

A tense first period was evenly fought and saw the home side take a slender lead into the interval when a superb individual run by Sam Costelow presented a chance to Ellis Bevan on eight minutes, who made no mistake with the finish to give them an early cushion.

Costelow managed to steer the conversion attempt through the upright, but the visitors grew into the game as the first half progressed and managed to make it a one-point game after 40 minutes thanks to a pair of penalties from Thibault Debaes.

After the break saw the away side begin to assert their dominance and they were rewarded with their first try of the game during the opening exchanges when prop Sacha Lotrian powered his way across the white wash for an unconverted score.

There was still time for further drama which arrived when a driving maul saw Morgan Strong touch down to put the Welsh ahead heading into the dying stages, and they held fimr in the face of some sustained pressure late on to seal their triumph.

Williams, said: "I'm really chuffed to bits. We worked on a lot of things from the Irish game and the boys implemented that really well.

"Heart is a huge element and that showed in that game along with some quality play under difficult circumstances. I'm really proud of the boys."