France swept aside Italy 46-20 in Paris to move within one victory of a Grand Slam success in the 2010 Six Nations.
Six tries blew the Italians away before a late rally through replacements Paul Derbyshire and Pablo Canavosio added a pinch of respectability to the scoreline.
The rout began as early as the sixth minute as Morgan Parra, perhaps the player of the tournament thus far, probed at the Italian line before spotting a gap to offload for Imanol Harinordoquy to crash over.
The game was ended as a contest over the next 20 minutes, as Italy were made to pay for losing Gonzalo Garcia to the sin bin for taking a player out without the ball.
On 15 minutes, centre David Marty, who slotted into the starting XV in place of Mathieu Bastareaud, was sent through a gaping hole by Francois Trinh-Duc to touch down.
Ten minutes later, Marty was in again as he backed up a move started with quick hands and a break from Clement Poitrenaud, who was dangerous throughout.
With Parra in almost impeccable form with the boot, France continued to pull away from the Italians, despite two penalties either side of half-time coming from Mirco Bergamasco.
Wing Marc Andreu was next to get in on the act ten minutes after the interval, as he burst onto a deep pass to scamper home from Italy's 22.
Andreu then turned provider as he broke the line to unload to replacement Yannick Jauzion, who ambled over the line.
Fellow substitute Alexandre Lapandry got his name amongst the try-scorers on 67 minutes, backing up a break from Julien Malzieu.
Late tries came from the visitors came though Canavosio and Derbyshire, Italy's first five-pointers in France for ten years.
The late rally came long after the game was all but won, with attentions already turning to the visit of England to Paris next week, as a first Grand Slam success since 2004 looms for the French.