France have defeated Fiji 61-18 in front of 46,795 vocal supporters in their Pool B clash at Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane.
Three tries from French centre Yannick Jauzion and 26 points off the boot of fly half Frederic Michalak were the highlights of a polished French performance.
Fiji started both halves in good fashion but were brought undone by French flair and some ill-discipline of their own in the seven tries to two defeat .
Fiji left no doubt about their intentions spreading the ball wide early at every opportunity but their first points came from the boot of fly half Nicky Little from 42 metres out after France were penalised at the breakdown.
Early pressure
French fly half Frederic Michalak responded with two penalties of his own to give France a 6-3 lead after 10 minutes.
A great kick and chase by the Pacific Islanders pressured French full back Nicolas Brusque into a poor kick straight into the hands of back rower Api Naevo who strolled over out wide to score the first try of the match after 18 minutes.
Michalak punished Fijian ill-discipline with two further penalties to regain the lead 14-6.
French patients finally paid off with tries to wing Christophe Dominici down the left flank in the 31st minute and No. 8 Imanol Harinordoquy crashing over shortly after.
Michalak added the extras to give France a 24-8 lead at the break.
Caucau ignites
Little opened the scoring in the second half, just as he did in the first, with a penalty to reduced the lead to 13.
Then, in a much anticipated move, Fijian flyer Rupeni Caucau, evaded two defenders to race 70 metres to score under the posts. Little added the extras to bring Fiji back into the game.
But France extended their lead to 12 with two further Mihalak penalties before the centre pairing of Marsh and Jauzion combined for the first of three tries.
Tempers flare
Tempers flared in the 64th minute resulting in French captain Olivier Magne and Caucau spending 10 minutes in the sin bin.
When Jauzion crossed for his second try France earned a vital bonus point and 44-18 lead.
Late tries to Jauzion, Raphael Ibanez and a second to Dominici pushed the score over the half century mark.
Next games
France play USA on Wednesday 15 October at Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane while France meet Japan at Townsville’s Dairy Farmers Stadium on Saturday, 18 October.
Stay tuned
Stay tuned for our coverage of South Africa versus Uruguay coming right up.