By James Eve

Champions France opened the defence of their Six Nations title in style on Saturday when they ran five tries past an error-prone Italy in a 39-3 win.

Number eight Sebastien Chabal, who has played only four tests since 2003, was named man-of-the-match after celebrating his international return with a try either side of halftime.

The French started slowly at Rome's Stadio Flaminio but soon warmed to their task, first-half tries by wingers Christophe Dominici and Cedric Heymans and Chabal putting them 22-3 ahead at halftime.

They continued to dominate after the break, with Chabal getting his second try, and inside centre Yannick Jauzion adding a fifth to help put last November's two defeats against New Zealand behind them.

Flyhalf David Skrela had a solid game, adding 11 points with the boot before he was replaced by Lionel Beauxis midway through the second half.

After Italy flyhalf Andrea Scanavacca and fullback Roland De Marigny had both missed penalties Skrela, who was making only his second international appearance in place of the injured Frederic Michalak, opened the scoring when he kicked the visitors' first penalty of the game after seven minutes.

An intricate series of passes by the French backs almost sent scrumhalf Pierre Mignoni through alone, but it was a mistake at the other end of the pitch that allowed Dominici to score France's first try in the 24th minute.

RUNAWAY DOMINICI

As Italy pushed up to the French 22, a pass by Italy's Gonzalo Canale pass dropped behind its intended target and rolled away, allowing the 34-year-old winger to kick the ball two-thirds the length of the pitch before touching down under the posts.

France's second try six minutes later was more routine, with Skrela taking advantage of space on the left to flick a pass wide to Heymans, who burst down the line.

Italy finally got on the scoreboard shortly before the interval, when Ramiro Pez, who stepped in at flyhalf after Scanavacca was involved in a collision, fired over a penalty.

But France responded with a flourish with Chabal powering over the line to complete a one-sided first half.

The second half started exactly as the first had ended with Mignoni setting up Chabal to grab his second try of the match.

Italy coach Pierre Berbizier substituted his entire front row in an attempt to beef up his team.

Their fragility was revealed, however, when Canale spilt a Mirco Bergamasco pass and Dominici pounced again to punt the ball upfield and chase after it. This time he was stopped just short of the line.

France struck again. Heymans brought down a high ball and fed the ball out to Clement Poitrenaud.

The fullback was tackled but offloaded the ball in time to Jauzion, who went over the line with Dallan still clinging to his legs.

The home fans finally had something to cheer about when scrumhalf Paul Griffen made way for Alessandro Troncon to extend his Italy caps record to 91 and make his first international appearance since March, 2005.

But the former captain's appearance was the only reason for the home fans to feel happy about a performance that lacked both spark and spirit.