Watch the final round of RBS 6 Nations matches live on RTÉ TWO next Saturday from 1.00pm to 7.55pm.
France outclassed world champions England at the Stade de France to win their RBS 6 Nations clash 31-6 on the 100th anniversary of their first meeting in the tournament.
The French ran in three tries to none by England with Florian Fritz, Damien Traille and Christophe Dominici touching down and Dimitri Yachvili scoring 16 of their points.
It left France and Ireland realistically the only ones capable of lifting the title when the final round of matches are played next weekend.
England got off to the worst possible start as Fritz benefited from a lack of decisiveness in the England defence - as three went for the same high ball and Jamie Noon dropped it - Traille picked it up and fed Fritz, who sped over the line to record his first try in his seventh Test after just 41 seconds.
Yachvili converted and the hosts almost had a second a few minutes later as Aurelien Rougerie broke free down the right wing but his grubber kick ahead was safely gathered by Charlie Hodgson and Matt Dawson kicked it clear from the resulting maul.
Yachvili extended their lead to 10-0 in the seventh minute with a precisely taken penalty as the French threatened to overrun the English, who had yet to get into their host's territory.
The impeccable Yachvili landed another penalty in the 12th minute to give them a 13-0 lead.
England were fortunate not to be punished further as Yachvili showed he was human by missing a penalty and then some poor defending allowed Frederic Michalak to have a go with a drop goal attmept but it went wide.
Such was the mediocrity of England's play that it reached its nadir when Hodgson's kick to touch entered French territory - but went out on the full provoking a wry smile from the England fly-half.
Yachvili converted another penalty to make it 16-0 in the 32nd minute after Dawson infringed.
England did manage at last to get some points on the board when Olivier Magne was adjudged to be offside and Hodgson - who had seen an earlier attempt come back off the post - kicked the penalty to leave England surprisingly, given the domination of the French, just 13 points adrift at half-time.
However, that did not save Hodgson from being replaced at the break with Andy Goode coming on and he reduced the lead to ten points in the 43rd minute as he converted a penalty.
Although England had improved from their dreadful first-half performance, coach Andy Robinson decided enough was enough in the 58th minute and took off Dawson and fellow World Cup winner Mike Tindall and replaced them with Harry Ellis and Tom Voyce.
However, France for all their domination were unable to put the game away with Yachvili missing with a drop goal and then a penalty, while their handling let them down twice with Jerome Thion the biggest culprit as he dropped the ball after Dimitri Szarzewski had made the break following another error by England.
The English, however, eventually paid for another mistake as Traille made a brilliant break through the middle leaving Lewsey for dead. His grubber kick should have been safely gathered by Harry Ellis but instead the Leicester scrum-half managed to lose the ball as he slid over the line and Traille picked it up to score his tenth try for his country.
Yachvili turned the screw on the English as he converted another penalty with seven minutes remaining to make it 24-6.
Dominici then had his moment of glory as he intercepted Goode's pass and touched down under the posts - Yachvili added the conversion to put a proper slant on the margin of victory.
France (16) 31 England (3) 6
France: Castaignede, Rougerie, Fritz, Traille, Dominici, Michalak, Yachvili, Marconnet, Ibanez, De Villiers, Pelous, Thion, Nyanga, Magne, Lievremont.
Replacements: Valbon for Traille (72), Szarzewski for Ibanez (61), Milloud for De Villiers (51), Nallet for Pelous (65), Bonnaire for Magne (58).
Not Used: Elissalde, Heymans.
England: Lewsey, Cueto, Noon, Tindall, Cohen, Hodgson, Dawson, Stevens, Thompson, White, Borthwick, Grewcock, Worsley, Moody, Corry.
Replacements: Voyce for Tindall (58), Goode for Hodgson (40), Ellis for Dawson (58), Sheridan for Stevens (61), Mears for Thompson (61), Shaw for Grewcock (69), Dallaglio for Worsley (61).
Att: 80,000
Ref: A Rolland (Ireland).
