France 51 Scotland 9

France underlined their burgeoning Rugby World Cup ambitions by sweeping away a battling, but ultimately outclassed Scotland side by 51-9 to claim top spot in Pool B and a date with the runners-up of Pool A in the quarter-finals.

Scotland started extremely well and forced France to dig deep in the first half, but when the French found their feet in the latter stages of the game the gulf in ability became painfully obvious.

All is not lost for Scotland, however, they will be pleased with the way they took the game to the talented French outfit in the early stages and will now play Fiji (next week) for the runner-up slot in Pool B.

The start of this encounter between the two European heavyweights could have been mistaken for a classic Six Nations contest, with both sides rushing into the game on a wave of raw passion rather than finely-tuned skill.

No quarter was given by either side as they fought for control of a match played in greasy conditions, and both teams were guilty of over-zealous ambitions and the resulting errors made for a battle more of attrition than attraction.

Scotland seemed to have done their homework and any French hopes of running the ball from deep were cut out by a taunt and eager Scottish defence, but France showed why they are fast becoming one of the hot favourites to lift the William Webb Ellis trophy by subjecting Scotland to the full range of attacking options.

When the yards weren't coming via long counter-attacks they opted to barge up field via the tireless Raphael Ibanez and his well-drilled forwards.

And with the Scots holding the lines bravely, they chose to bypass the tacklers with deft kicking, like the 40 metre drop-kick scored by fly-half Frédéric Michalak that won France the lead after 15 minutes.

But, perversely, it was when Scotland had the ball that France looked the most menacing.  Outstanding pressure from flankers Serge Betsen and Olivier Mange left the Scots with very little breathing space and they were forced into making errors.

The resulting turnover ball was music to the ears of the flying French backs and they were able to break away via the likes of elusive wing Christophe Dominici.

Scotland somehow managed to hold on and stifle all but the very best French attacks, and France were forced to save their flamboyance for the second half.

France chipped their way into the lead via the unerring boot of Michalak before Olivier Magne took advantage of a lapse in the Scottish defence to surge through the midfield.  He off-loaded to Imanol Harinordoquy who, in turn, fed Serge Betsen, who turned on the gas before crashing over for a try.

In a flash, France had a significant lead and the capacity crowd at Sydney's Telstra Stadium caught a glimpse of France's most potent weapon -- their back row.

Scotland fans received a lift as Paterson replied to the try by slotting a penalty kick -- pulling his team closer to France, but Michalak had his kicking boots on and immediately slotted one for his own side with the last kick of the first half.

France began the second half looking to extend their lead and they set about pushing Scotland back towards their line.  Once they were within range the ball went back to fullback Nicolas Brusque who caressed a drop-goal through Scotland's posts.

France were now on the front-foot and subjected Scotland to a lesson in total rugby.  For all their pose behind the scrum, the French opted to drive a rolling maul at the Scots and pushed them back past over their goalline and all No.8 Harinordoquy had to do was flop to the ground to record France's second try.

Scotland fought back with some decent phases, but at no point did they look like breaking through.  And, when France conceded a penalty, the Scots had little option save to add three points, Paterson duly obliging.

France bounced back with some flowing rugby, which the outstanding Michalak finishing off by sliding in under the posts to complete his full-house of scores.

Scotland were now on the rack and France were in full flow as captain Fabien Galthié went through totally unopposed from a five-metre scrum to score.

With the bonus point recorded, France settled into a swagger as Scotland tried in vain to fight their way back into the match.

But they were fighting a losing battle and Brusque later added insult to injury by collected his own chip to score in the corner.

Fittingly, it was the boot of the majestic Michalak that brought up the half-century of France points with a superb effort from the touchline to end the game.

Man of the match:  Mention must go to France's back row, but it was fly-half Frédéric Michalak who really caught the eye.  His full-house of scores indicates his ability in all areas, and the easy in which France switched their tactics to suit the situation sprang directly from the vision of the young fly-half.  Eat your heart out, Jonny Wilkinson!

Moment of the match:  As the TV camera went down the line of Scottish players during the anthems, each man offered a slight shake of the head in protest of flanker Martin Leslie's 12-week ban.  It was a dignified, silent gesture -- and showed that the soul of rugby is still anchored in the notion of fraternity.

Villain of the match:  A terrific legal tackle form Simon Taylor on Fabien Galthié was pulled up by touch judge Alain Rolland.  The hit was fine and was the sort one effort that can lift a team's spirits, but instead France got a penalty and Taylor got a ticking off.  There are already too many nannies in our sport, Mr Rolland, we don't need another.

The Teams:

France:  1 Jean-Jacques Crenca, 2 Raphael Ibanez, 3 Sylvain Marconnet, 4 Fabien Pelous, 5 Jerome Thion, 6 Serge Betsen Tchoua, 7 Olivier Magne, 8 Imanol Harinordoquy, 9 Fabien Galthie (c), 10 Frederic Michalak, 11 Aurelien Rougerie, 12 Yannick Jauzion, 13 Tony Marsh, 14 Christophe Dominici, 15 Nicolas Brusque
Reserves:  Yannick Bru, Olivier Brouzet, Gerald Merceron, Olivier Milloud, Patrick Tabacco, Damien Traille
Unused:  Pepito Elhorga

Scotland:  1 Gavin Kerr, 2 Gordon Bulloch, 3 Tom Smith, 4 Stuart Grimes, 5 Scott Murray, 6 Cameron Mather, 7 Jason White, 8 Simon Taylor, 9 Bryan Redpath (c), 10 Gregor Townsend, 11 Kenny Logan, 12 Andrew Craig, 13 Andrew Henderson, 14 Chris Paterson, 15 Glenn Metcalfe
Reserves:  Bruce Douglas, Nathan Hines, Jon Petrie, James McLaren, Robbie Russell
Unused:  Michael Blair, Simon Danielli

Attendance:  78974
Referee:  Mchugh d.

Points Scorers:

France
Tries:  Brusque N. 1, Michalak F. 1, Galthie F. 1, Betsen Tchoua S. 1, Harinordoquy I. 1
Conv:  Michalak F. 4
Pen K.:  Michalak F. 4
Drop G.:  Brusque N. 1, Michalak F. 1

Scotland
Pen K.:  Paterson C.D. 3