Sam Warburton said it was “boring”, while Warren Gatland called it a brilliant Test match – but the indisputable fact is Wales are top of the Six Nations table.

In a match that sometimes felt almost as painful to watch as it must have been to play in, a muscular and impressively organised Wales beat France 19-10. It was a game high on ferocity but low on finesse.

Gatland’s side have been resolute, disciplined and highly efficient so far in this tournament.

But they are like a super-charged traffic warden – easy to admire, but difficult to love.

It was enough, though, to hand new-look France their first defeat under coach Guy Noves. Les Bleus had a long spell of domination early in the second half but failed to make it count while the hosts proved more productive, prevailing with a George North try and four penalties and a conversion from fly-half Dan Biggar.

France replied through Jules Plisson’s first-half penalty, a late try from captain Guilhem Guirado and substitute fly-half Francois Trinh-Duc’s conversion.

Wales now have five points from two wins and a draw, one ahead of England, who take on Ireland on Saturday, and France.

“I thought it was brilliant,” said Gatland. “It’s what test rugby is all about.

“We defended brilliantly in the second half. Things we had worked on looked really good for us.”

But his captain begged to differ as Warburton admitted: “I remember thinking on the pitch ‘the fans are going to start a Mexican wave in a minute – it’s pretty boring’.”

“Jamie Roberts just said to me walking off the pitch ‘it was an ugly way to win at Test match’.

“Defences are getting better and better every year. We’re trying to score nice wide tries.”

“It’s what we work on in training week in week out, but it’s one thing doing it on the training pitch and another doing it in front of a highly skilled, motivated international team.

“There’s not much space on the field any more and it’s sometimes down to individual brilliance.”

France, with almost all their players under 30, paid for a lack of experience despite producing some promising attacking moves, four months after Noves took over following a record defeat by New Zealand in the World Cup quarter-finals.

Wales, who got off to a stuttering Six Nations start with a draw against Ireland, were rock solid in defence.

Biggar missed an early penalty and Plisson also lacked precision with the boot as both sides played it tight.

The wing put the hosts ahead after Paul Jedrasiak was penalised for a late charge on Taulupe Faletau.

Biggar added a second penalty before France stepped up a gear, going close to a try when Virimi Vakatawa broke through the midfield only for his side to be punished for going off their feet at a ruck.

Plisson halved the deficit with a routine penalty ahead of halftime before Sam Warburton and Jonathan Davies’ powerful forays put France to the test.

Biggar added three points when Noves’ team were penalised for a dangerous tackle by Jonathan Danty.

Davies then booted the ball ahead, North made a mess of it before Plisson kicked it into the path of the wing who touched down.

The visitors continued to attack but Wales held firm, bundling Maxime Medard into touch after a clever Plisson kick and stopping Guirado millimetres from the line.

Wales extended their advantage with another Biggar penalty before France reduced the arrears through Guirado.

“Failing to score from our dominant spell hurt us,” said France skipper Guirado. “If we had scored around the hour the game would have been different.”