France ran in eight tries at the OL Stadium in Lyon as they finished the pool phase unbeaten with four wins and top of the standings with 18 points after a 60-7 victory.

Les Bleus, two-time World Cup runners-up, got off to an ideal start when the ball was worked to winger Damien Penaud for the first try on two minutes.

Louis Bielle-Biarrey danced around three men in the 13^th minute before going over for France’s second try.

A cross-field move was finished by Thomas Ramos for the third try, before the bonus point was sealed before the break when Penaud scored his second, touching down after a kick to the wing from Matthieu Jalibert.

A dummied pass from Jalibert enabled him to get the fifth France try early in the second half, before Peato Mauvaka scored the next as the blue wave continued.

Two impressive team moves were finished off by Yoram Moefana as France continued to pile on the points, with Italy’s sole score a converted try by Manuel Zuliani inside the final ten minutes.

It was a second successive heavy defeat for the Azzurri against a top-five ranked nation, after they shipped 96 points against New Zealand seven days ago.

The match concludes Pool A with France top on 18 points and New Zealand second on 15 the teams to progress to the knockout stages.

Three matches are scheduled to take place tomorrow on the penultimate day of pool action, with Wales up against Georgia in Pool C in Nantes, England facing Samoa in Pool D in Lille and Ireland taking on Scotland in Pool B in Paris.