France extended their perfect record against Italy with a 25-13 win that kept alive their slim chances of retaining the Six Nations title.

France, who bounced back from a defeat by England on the same Stade de France pitch two weeks ago, will now try to ruin Wales's grand slam hopes next Saturday in Cardiff.

Wales would have been crowned champions had France lost to Italy, and Marc Lievremont's side must now win by over 19 points at the Millennium Stadium to make sure of keeping the title.

If France won by just 19 points, the two teams would be level on points difference and the team with the most tries in the tournament would claim overall victory. The sides are tied on 11 tries each.

"It will be very complicated", said France lock and captain Lionel Nallet. "We're satisfied with our performance today and with the victory. If there's anything we can regret, then it's having lost to England."

France, relying on a largely experimental side with three newcomers, recorded their ninth victory from as many Six Nations encounters with Italy.

They suffered, notably in the line-outs, but scored three tries by full-back Anthony Floch, centre Yannick Jauzion and wing Aurelien Rougerie and collected 10 points from the boot of scrum-half Dimitri Yachvili.

Italy, who fought bravely and trailed their hosts 13-6 at the break, had to be content with a second-half try from prop Martin Castrogiovanni and eight points from full-back Andrea Marcato.

"It was our best match for a long time," said Italy coach Nick Mallett. "We struggled a bit with our place kicking but I was pleased with the way our forwards as well as our backs performed. There's a good spirit in that team."

A rebuilding French side, who looked clumsy at times on a soggy pitch but showed flashes of brilliance, recovered from a nervous start to score a classic try on 13 minutes.

After the French pack confidently marched through the Italian half, fly-half Francois Trinh-Duc seized the ball and kicked it to the left. Wing Julien Malzieu caught it and swiftly passed it on to Floch who touched down in the corner. Yachvili passed a tricky conversion to put the hosts 7-0 up.

A spell of sustained Italian pressure followed, during which Marcato converted two penalties with one by Yachvili in between.

On the half hour, France led 10-6 and struggled to contain the fiery visitors.

Another penalty from a faultless Yachvili followed and France woke up, narrowly missing a second try because of a forward pass before changing sides.

A moment of flair 10 minutes into the second half saw Jauzion latch on to an astute kick along the line by Yachvili to give France their second try.

Italy responded swiftly with a collective effort by their forwards rewarded by Castrogiovanni's try before running out of steam.

Rougerie then had a score denied by video evidence but kept trying and concluded another fluent move by the French backs to dive over the line for the home side's third try, which Yachvili converted to complete the score-line.

Reuters