France bounced back from humiliation against England with a seven-try win over Italy as the Azzurri claimed their seventh Wooden Spoon in 10 years.

France led 6-3 midway through the first half but tries from Sebastien Chabal, Francois Trinh-Duc and Maxime Meydard gave them a decisive lead in Rome.

Cedric Heymans and Thomas Domingo added further tries after the break.

Sergio Parisse scored Italy’s first try in over five hours of action but Medard and Julien Malzieu completed the rout.

Frederic Michalak, who came on as a replacement for his first cap since 2007, missed the final three conversion attempts, any of which would seen France surpass their record Six Nations win over Italy – 56-13 in Rome in 2005.

After their demolition by old rivals England last weekend, France were determined to return to winning ways.

Italy have never beaten their continental neighbours in the Six Nations, making them the perfect opponents for the bruised men in blue, and the French started with intent at the Stadio Flaminio.

Italy secured plenty of possession in the opening stages but, as they have all tournament, their backs struggled to create much of note.

France looked much more fluid with ball in hand and despite playing against a strong breeze they took an early 6-0 lead through two penalties from scrum-half Morgan Parra.

Italy full-back Andrea Marcato missed his first chance to trim the gap but, after the hosts’ kicking game had pinned France back in their own half, he landed a second penalty attempt to make it 6-3 after 22 minutes.
France backs coach Emile Ntamack predicts bright future for Les Bleus
However, Jauzion immediately claimed a towering kick ahead of Italy scrum-half Paul Griffen and when the ball was fed to Chabal on the 22, he battered his way through an attempted tackle from Griffen to claim a typically bullocking score and set France on their way.

The pallid French side of seven days ago was rejuvenated and they soon added a spectacular brace of tries.

Trinh-Duc claimed the first, dummying his way past Mauro Bergamasco on halfway and stepping inside Griffen before out-pacing the cover to the line.

The hapless Griffen then failed to claim a kick ahead and Thierry Dusautoir powered 30m before feeding Medard to canter over untouched.

Parra added two conversions and France’s 25-3 half-time lead was extended within two minutes of the restart.

In a desperate attempt to regain some pride Italy tried to attack from inside their own 22 but when flanker Mauro Bergamasco attempted a grubber kick, the ball fell to Heymans and the wing romped over for a simple try.
Italy coach Nick Mallett furious with Azzurri display
Parra converted and added a penalty to give France a 35-3 lead and they added a fifth try when Domingo stretched over from close range.

Their chances of victory had long since gone but Italy attacked with passion and were rewarded when captain Parisse, who played superbly in a losing cause, went over.

But France always looked by far the more dangerous side and they rounded things off with further tries in the last 10 minuets from Medard and Malzieu.

It was Les Bleus’ first away win since coach Marc Lievremont’s first game in charge, the opening game of their 2008 Six Nations campaign at Murrayfield.

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France coach Marc Lievremont:
“The important thing was to finish the Six Nations tournament with a win and we achieved that.

“It’s a deserved victory with a good first half and a second period that was a little harder going.

“Of course this doesn’t completely make up for the blow we received at Twickenham six days ago but at the same time it was reassuring to finish on this note.”

Italy boss Nick Mallett:
“I’ll be meeting with the (Italian rugby federation) president (Giancarlo Dondi) this week to have a long talk with him but it’s quite clear that we need to improve the standard of play to actually compete at the Six Nations.

“We are going on tour to Tri-Nations countries, to Australia and New Zealand, and that’s going to be very difficult for Italy.

“I’m quite prepared to take the blame for my team, it’s my responsibility but it would be naive to think that by criticising the head coach and by criticising the players you are going to make things better.

“I think we need to look at much much deeper issues in Italian rugby that need to change for us to be really competitive instead of one-off competitive.”

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Italy: Marcato; Rubini, Canale, Mi Bergamasco, Pratichetti; McLean, Griffen; Parisse, Ma Bergamasco, Zanni, Bortolami, Dellape, Nieto, Ghiraldini, Perugini.

Replacements: Quartaroli for Pratichetti (48), Orquera for McLean (72), Canavosio for Griffen (66), Sole for Bortolami (68), Del Fava for Dellape (54), Castrogiovanni for Nieto (58).

Not Used: Sbaraglini.

France: Traille; Medard, Fritz, Jauzion, Heymans; Trinh-Duc, Parra; Harinordoquy, Bonnaire, Dusautoir, Chabal, Nallet, Marconnet, Szarzewski, Barcella.

Replacements: Bastareaud for Fritz (60), Malzieu for Heymans (71), Michalak for Parra (52), Picamoles for Harinordoquy (63), Thion for Nallet (71), Domingo for Marconnet (50), Servat for Szarzewski (52).

Att: 27,650

England marked Martin Johnson’s first Six Nations game in charge with an unconvincing victory against Italy.

Three Italy errors saw England take a commanding lead as Andy Goode, Harry Ellis and Riki Flutey went over.

Goode added two conversions and a penalty but two Luke McLean penalties meant England led 22-6 at half-time.

Ellis scored England’s fourth try after the break and although Italy cut the gap through Mirco Bergamasco, Mark Cueto had the final word for the hosts.

England somehow ran in five tries but they created little of note in attack and although Johnson will be happy to have banked two points, the laboured display will have done nothing to soothe his furrowed brow.

His side went into the game on the back of five defeats in six matches and Johnson decided experience and a more conservative approach was the order of the day, with the solid Goode and Cueto recalled after long absences.

In contrast Italy boss Nick Mallett decided to gamble by picking the older of the Bergamasco brothers, Mauro, normally a flanker, at scrum-half because they had lost their three leading number nines to injury.

The move was to backfire in spectacular fashion.

Bergamasco is a fine open-side with 69 caps to his name but his inexperience at number nine cost his side a try within two minutes of the kick-off.

The Stade Francais player was – like a good number seven – unable to resist the temptation to clear out English players at a ruck and when the ball fell loose he was not there to control it.

England kicked through to within 10m of the Italian line and when Saracens hooker Fabio Ongaro overthrew at the resulting line-out for the visitors, Goode collected and set up great field position.

Nick Easter and James Haskell both had a crack and when England recycled for a third time Goode chipped through and won the race to touch down.

Goode converted but spurned the chance to extend the lead when he missed two kickable penalties.

Italy also failed to take their first chance, Andrea Marcato missing a penalty for the visitors, and they shipped a second try after 18 minutes following a second Mauro Bergamasco error.

Italy once again lost control of the ball at the base after Bergamasco had been sucked into a ruck and Haskell’s flick saw Ellis scamper 20m to the line and dive over for an unconverted try.

It then went from bad to worse for Bergamasco as his horrendous pass eluded Gonzalo Garcia and Goode kicked ahead before Flutey gathered the ball and went over.

The visitors finally managed to get on the board late in the first half with two penalties from McLean, on for battered fly-half Marcato, either side of a Goode penalty for the hosts.

That meant England led 22-6 at half-time and Italy finally accepted the inevitable, removing Mauro Bergamasco and bringing on Giulio Toniolatti for just his second cap.

With a healthy lead and Italy in disarray it was all set up for England to open up in the second half, but they never really got going.

Ellis marked an effective display by having the pace to go over from halfway after England had turned over Italian possession, with Goode’s conversion making it 29-6.

Italy claimed their solitary try as Mirco Bergmasco finished off a sweeping move after 72 minutes to cap a mixed day for the Bergamasco brothers.

Cueto, playing for England for the first time since the 2007 World Cup final, then rounded off the scoring with a 78th-minute try.

But the fact the hosts scored five tries in the Six Nations for the first time in three years said much more about Italy’s flaky display than it did about England’s attacking prowess.

England: D Armitage; Sackey, Noon, Flutey, Cueto; Goode, Ellis; Sheridan, Mears, Vickery, Borthwick, Kennedy, Haskell, S Armitage, Easter.

Replacements: Hartley for Mears (55), Foden for Ellis (60), White for Sheridan (60), Geraghty for Flutey (60), Worsley for Armitage (62), Croft for Kennedy (73), Tait for Noon (73).

Sin-Bin: Haskell (34), Geraghty (63).

Italy: Masi; Robertson, Canale, Garcia, Mi Bergamasco; Marcato, Ma Bergamasco; Perugini, Ongaro, Castrogiovanni, Dellape, Bortolami, Sole, Zanni, Parisse.

Replacements: McLean for Marcato (29), Toniolatti for Ma Bergamasco (41), Pratichetti for Garcia (55), Reato for Bortolami (55), Festuccia for Ongaro (55), Nieto for Perugini (60), Montauriol for Dellape (76).

Att: 82,000.

Ref: M Lawrence (South Africa).

Italy may have to play their home games in next year’s Six Nations away from Rome’s Stadio Flaminio after concerns were raised about building work. The ageing stadium is undergoing major reconstruction work which has been stopped for structural checks.

And Italian rugby federation president Giancarlo Dondi said: “I am worried about using the site for home matches in February and March 2008.”

Genoa has been mooted in the past as a possible alternative venue.

Scotland edged into the quarter-finals of the World Cup after a tense win over Italy in rain-lashed St Etienne.

Once again Scotland had the unerring kicking of Chris Paterson to thank, with the winger knocking over six penalties from six attempts.

Italy skipper Alessandro Troncon bundled over for a first half try and David Bortolussi kept Italy in touch.

Neither side showed much in the way of attacking ambition but the Scots showed superior discipline to progress.

In the last eight Scotland will play the winners of Pool D, who are likely to be either Argentina or France.

Scotland made a bright start with Paterson confidently clipping over two penalties inside the first five minutes.

And, when Mauro Bergamasco was sin-binned for a cynical challenge on Simon Taylor, Scotland looked ready to seize the initiative and build on their early lead.

However, the Italians recovered from a jittery opening to come roaring back and a huge up-and-under from Ramiro Pez resulted in a bruising game’s only try.

Mirco Bergamasco flattened the referee as he followed up and appeared to take Rory Lamont out before the dropping ball had reached the Scot.

From the resulting ruck, Troncon burst over from close range to put Italy into the lead.

Bortolussi landed the conversion before stretching the advantage with a long range penalty.

Mirco Bergamasco should have been the second Italian to have a yellow card but the officials somehow missed a blatant trip on Dan Parks.

There was a further blow for Scotland when influential full-back Rory Lamont had to be replaced by Hugo Southwell, following a bone-shuddering collision with Andrea Masi.

But the dependable Paterson slotted two more penalties to give Scotland a narrow lead at the interval.

After the break Bortolussi was inches short with a long range penalty and Paterson tucked over a close range effort after a dangerous Scottish break.

The Gloucester signing made it six from six as Italian indiscipline gifted the Scots another cheap three points.

Nathan Hines was then sin-binned for a high tackle after a slick passing move from Italy, who were showing marginally more imagination with the ball in attack.

Bortolussi kicked the penalty and the impressive fullback narrowed the gap to two points as Italy enjoyed their man advantage.

Scotland had a rare glimpse of the try-line when a Pez clearance kick was charged down but the bouncing ball would not fall the way of Frank Hadden’s side.

Scottish nerves were frayed when Italy won a 75th minute penalty but Bortolussi was again just out of luck from a long way out.

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Scotland: R Lamont; S Lamont, Webster, Dewey, Paterson; Parks, Blair; Kerr, Ford, Murray, Hines, Hamilton, White (capt), Hogg, Taylor.
Replacements: Lawson, Smith, MacLeod, Brown, Cusiter, Henderson, Southwell.

Italy Bortolussi; Robertson, Canale, Mirco Bergamasco, Masi; Pez, Troncon (capt); Perugini, Festuccia, Castrogiovanni, Dellape, Del Fava, Sole, Mauro Bergamasco, Parisse.
Replacements: Ongaro, Lo Cicero, Bernabo, Ghiraldini, Griffen, De Marigny, Galon.

Scotland have named the same team that defeated Romania for Saturday’s crucial World Cup clash with Italy.

The 13 players rested against New Zealand return and wing Chris Paterson has recovered from a poke in the eye.

Italy captain Marco Bortolami misses the winner-takes-all match in St Etienne, with the lock suffering from hamstring and neck problems.

But second row Santiago Dellape, flanker Josh Sole and number eight Sergio Parisse have shaken off knocks.

“We give Italy the utmost respect,” said Scotland head coach Frank Hadden.

“Not only did they win their last match against us but we have always found Italy a difficult side to play against.”

But Hadden is expecting his fresh side to give a good account of themselves.

“We are happy with where we are at present,” he added.

“We expect the side selected for Saturday to step up a gear and make the bold statement that we want to make at this World Cup.”

Italy failed to impress in their 31-5 win over Portugal last week, and coach Pierre Berbizier has made several changes to the line-up.

Prop Salvatore Perugini, hooker Carlo Festuccia and flanker Sole are all recalled, with Andrea Lo Cicero, Leonardo Ghiraldini and Manoa Vosawai missing out on selection.

Ramiro Pez starts in place of Roland de Marigny at fly-half, while there are returns for winger Kaine Robertson and centre Mirco Bergamasco.

With Bortolami absent, scrum-half Alessandro Troncon will captain Italy on his 101st appearance.

Paterson, who was used at fly-half in Scotland’s warm-up matches, will be winning his 80th cap for Scotland.

And the versatile star said: “Saturday’s game is make or break.

“Italy have a good record against us and are above us in the rankings.

“They’re a quality side with massive playing numbers.

“However, it’s a game we know we can win and must win, and we must put all the hard work we’ve done over the summer together on Saturday night.”

Hugo Southwell and Scott MacLeod have recovered from minor knocks to take their places on the Scotland bench.

Andrew Henderson will provide cover for the centre pairing of Simon Webster and Rob Dewey, having recovered from injury in time to play in the 40-0 defeat to New Zealand.

In this year’s Six Nations Championship, Italy won 37-17 at Murrayfield to claim their first ever away victory in the tournament.

On that occasion, the Scots gifted their opponents three soft tries in the opening six minutes.

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Scotland: R Lamont; S Lamont, S Webster, R Dewey, C Paterson; D Parks, M Blair; G Kerr, R Ford, E Murray, N Hines, J Hamilton, J White (capt), A Hogg, S Taylor.
Replacements: S Lawson , C Smith, S MacLeod, K Brown, C Cusiter, A Henderson, H Southwell.

Italy D Bortolussi; K Robertson, G Canale, Mirco Bergamasco, A Masi; R Pez, A Troncon (capt); S Perugini, C Festuccia, M Castrogiovanni, S Dellape, C Del Fava, J Sole, Mauro Bergamasco, S Parisse.
Replacements: F Ongaro, A Lo Cicero, V Bernabo, L Ghiraldini, P Griffen, R de Marigny, E Galon.