France proved their credentials as world champion contenders as they cruised into the semi finals with a record-breaking display over Scotland.

Lionel Alazard scored six tries while Jean-Yves Ducos, Nicolas Massatt, Jerome Bonnet and Nicolas Morais bagged four and Dany Delaweare landed a pair for an international record 154 points.

The Scottish strongly improved from their 148-0 demolition by Australia with a tighter defence and a well-drilled offensive game in the first half.

They tired in the second half as the French capitalized on their leaky defence by scoring 13 more tries.

Graeme Stewart grabbed some consolation for the proud Scots as he converted a penalty for their first points of the tournament.

As for the French, they rested key players Nicolas Claussells and captain Mickael Guane for their big showdown with the Aussies on Tuesday. However, they didn’t go easy on their opponents as Ducos and Bonnet completed hat tricks with Alazard and Massat landing a pair of tries for a 72-2 halftime lead.

As the clock ticked down, France went for one more try as Gilles Claussells chased down a big kick and grounded a try on the halftime hooter.

After the break, the French still pressed on the accelerator as Bonnet landed his fourth of the game with Alazard, Morais, and Massatt crossed for their third tries and Delaweare adding his quick pair for a 114-2 advantage.

With only 20 minutes gone, Alazard tripled his tally as he kept breaking through the gaping Scottish line for another three scores.

Ducos and Morais came back on for the final 10 minutes hungry for more tries.The Scottish could not catch them as they both coasted to the line making it look easy.

Morais pushed down hard from the halfway line for the final try of the game and added the extras to surpass the international scoring record.