France set down World Cup marker with superb Grand Slam

France's first Six Nations title for 12 years showed that Fabien Galthie's impressive team, who beat England in a party atmosphere at the Stade de France, will be hard to stop at the World Cup on home soil next year.

With Melvyn Jaminet prolific with the boot, the immense Cameron Woki fast becoming the fulcrum of the team and live-wire World Player of the Year Antoine Dupont wreaking havoc on the England defence, there was only going to be one winner on Saturday.

France were dominant in the opening 40 minutes with tries from the superb Gael Fickou and Francois Cros. England hit back in the second half thanks to Freddie Steward's converted try, but once Dupont burst through in the 61st minute the Grand Slam was secured and the fireworks could be launched from the stadium roof.

On this form, if the World Cup was starting tomorrow, France would be favourites.

Once the Six Nations trophy had been lifted and his players serenaded for an hour by the 79 000 crowd, Galthie said: "This was an unforgettable experience which is going to make us grow. It brought so much joy to the coaching staff.

"Tonight was a bit different to other matches, there was a lot of tension. It was beautifully, marvellously tense."

Dupont said he could measure the progress of the team.

"It's our third Six Nations together. We came up just short in the first two. We realised how difficult it can be - each match is difficult, we were able to see that this year."

All great teams are built on defence and English coach Shaun Edwards has instilled a discipline in that department that many previous French sides lacked.

The understated but impressively effective Gael Fickou is the defensive captain and from outside centre has overseen Edwards' approach to stifling