Antoine Dupont put in another man-of-the-match performance as France kicked off their 6 Nations campaign in comfortable fashion, beating Italy 50-10 in Rome.
The scrum-half was not at his complete best, with a couple of stray kicks, but remained the petit général of the French team, setting up three tries and scoring one of his own as Fabien Galthié's men got off to a flying bonus point start.
Dupont was instrumental in Gaël Fickou's try to open the scoring and then produced a sublim no-look reverse pass to Arthur Vincent before the half-hour mark.
Such was France's dominance and Dupont's impact in the match that he was subbed off before the final quarter. But he still managed to score off one of his trademark inside supporting lines from a Teddy Thomas break and then returned the favour to his winger.
It was a superb display of natural skill - albeit against a weak Italy - and one which deserved the post-match praise from his captain Charles Ollivon.
“As usual, he [Antoine Dupont] put in a great performance," Ollivon said.
"We need him to conduct the game, in the conclusions of actions. He makes his qualities speak, it no longer surprises anyone. It's very good for him and especially very good for the team.”
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