France booked their place in the quarter-finals of the Rugby World Cup after securing a comfortable 60-7 bonus-point victory over Italy at the Parc Olympique Lyonnais on Friday evening.

Penaud, who is 26 years old, scored two tries and set up a third with a clever chip. With these scores, he moved within three tries of France great Blanco’s record of 38 tries for his country.

France won their fourth game in a row to take first place in Pool A. They will now play one of Ireland, Scotland, or South Africa in the round of eight.

They’ll know who they’re up against after Saturday, when the Irish play the Scots at the Stade de France in Paris.

It wasn’t quite the unstoppable try-fest New Zealand gave Italy a week ago in a 96–17 thrashing, but there was still a big difference in skill between these two teams, who had only been five points apart in the Six Nations in February.

Because Penaud was so good, it was easy to forget that Antoine Dupont, France’s captain and star player, had broken his cheekbone and would not be able to play. This injury had been all over the news leading up to the game.

Thomas Ramos scored 20 points, and Matthieu Jalibert, Peato Mauvaka, and Yoram Moefana each scored two points in this eight-try win.

Les Bleus scored their first try in just two minutes. They went through the phases and then Penaud scored his 34th try with quick hands.

That tied him with Vincent Clerc for second place in France’s list of all-time try scorers.

After that, Penaud became a provider.

Bielle-Biarrey ran on to a missed grubber kick, but the goalie quickly changed his aim and sent a chip for the wing to pick up and then jink inside and out to beat three defenders and score.

France was hitting Italy hard up front, and their backs were taking advantage of the extra space that Ramos created by running over in the corner.

They tried to make a play, but Tommaso Allan dropped the ball just metres from the tryline after getting hit hard in the back.

Italy beat Simone Ferrari thought he had scored, but he was wrongly penalised for a high clear-out at a ruck, and France’s tryline was still unbroken.

The Azzurri were putting pressure on the other team for a while, but in an instant, they gave up when Jalibert chipped the ball into a huge hole, where Penaud, who else?, scored.

In the first half, Ramos converted all four tries and a penalty, giving France a 31-0 lead.

After the break, things didn’t change much. Jalibert made a pass to Juan Ignacio Brex, who then scored by turning a forward inside out.

Finally, France’s forwards got their reward from a line-out drive: Mauvaka broke off against no defence to power over.

France’s defence was just as strong as their offence, and they kept Italy from scoring many times.

At the other end, they were starving, and Moefana, the replacement centre, was about to cross.

At least Manuel Zuliani scored a try for Italy that Allan converted to end their World Cup run.

But Moefana’s second goal got it done for Italy. They finished third in Pool A, behind New Zealand, who also made it to the next round.