France claim all five points in victory over Canada

Wesley Fofana of France breaks through the Canada defence to score his team's opening try

France are top of Pool D after a 41-18 win over Canada in Milton Keynes on Thursday night.

France only have one pool game remaining, against Ireland in what is likely to be the match that decides who finishes top, provided Ireland beat Italy in their penultimate pool match.

The French were made to fight by the Canadians, and only led 24-18 as the third quarter drew to a close, before two tries gave them the all-important win and bonus point.

Freddie Michalak was superb for the French. He kicked 14 points, including three conversions in the first half after Wesley Fofana, Guilhem Guirado and Rabah Slimani all crossed before the break.

The Canadians hit back through tries from the in-form DTH van der Merwe and Aaron Carpenter, and they brought the game to within six points before a Michalak penalty and Pascal Pape score put daylight between the two sides.

France got off to the perfect start when Michalak wriggled through the Canadian defence and took the ball up to the last defender. He passed to Fofana on the right who thundered over for the opening try which Michalak converted.

The fly-half stepped up to increase the lead from the kicking tee when Canada infringed, and made it 10-0 after 15 minutes.

Freddie Michalak kicks for goal - the Frenchman scored 14 points with the boot

Things look ominous for Canada when Fofana broke the line and passed to Remy Grosso who brought it down deep in Canadian territory. The forwards set up a driving maul which Guirado rode on the back of and flopped down once his side had driven over the line. With the conversion successful, the score stood at 17-0.

However the try sparked a strong fightback from the Canadians, who scored twice in the space of five minutes.

First, after Ciaran Hearn claimed the restart in the air and offloaded before going to ground. The ball was sent through the phases as Canada flooded the French line with attackers before the ball was shipped wide to Van der Merwe. The Scarlets-bound winger stepped the French defence and ran in his side's first try.

Canada drove the ball up again after the restart and won a penalty which was taken quickly. Again the first receivers crashed the ball up before replacement hooker Carpenter drove over to make it 17-12 after the conversion was missed.

Canda players celebrate as DTH van der Merwe scores their first try

France extended their lead before half-time when they set up a lineout on the Canadian line after a penalty. The ball was brought down and the point of contact shifted, which opened a space for Slimani to drive through relatively untouched and give Michalak his third conversion of the night and France a 24-12 lead at the break.

Canada reduced the lead immediately in the second half through the boot of Nathan Hirayama, and when he sent his second penalty of the half over, it was a six-point game and set up a potentially tense finish for the French.

However Michalak added another penalty before Pape delivered the bonus point when he burrowed over from close to the line to give France some breathing room.

Nanyak Dala was then shown a yellow card for overstepping the mark when France were close to scoring, but the French were only able to add one more try in those final nine minutes, with Grosso crossing on the back of a training ground move from a scrum to give France the win.