France 35 Canada 3
A brace of tries by winger Vincent Clerc and a fine flyhalf performance from Gerald Merceron spearheaded France to a record win over Canada.
After missing France's 30-10 win over South Africa earlier this month and their 20-20 draw with New Zealand last Saturday, Merceron celebrated his return with a personal total of 13 points, scoring three penalties and converting two of France's four tries.
The 29-year-old flyhalf also helped secure France the try that killed off the game as a contest in the 54th minute with a perfect kick in the back of the Canadian defence.
Flanker Olivier Magne picked up the ball and offered an easy try to centre Damien Traille.
France's first try was scored after 14 minutes by winger David Bory, who also missed the first two games of their November tour.
Clerc twice sidestepped the Canadian defence in the 60th and 71st minutes despite a persistent drizzle which made both the ball and pitch slippery.
Canada were by then reduced to 14 men as winger Fred Asselin had been sin-binned 15 minutes from time for a high tackle on Thomas Castaignede.
Traille booted the last conversion before flyhalf Bob Ross saved rescued some Canadian pride with a penalty. The victory gives France a 12-month test record of 10 wins, three defeats and a draw.
But the French had to celebrate their win in a largely empty Stade de France, poor tickets sales having forced the French Federation to close the arena's upper-ring reducing its capacity from 78,500 spectators to 50,000.
Scorers
France- Tries: Bory, Traille, Clerc (2), Conversions: Merceron (2), Traille Penalties: Merceron (3)
Canada- Penalty: Ross
France
Nicolas Brusque (Biarritz); Vincent Clerc (Toulouse), Thomas Castaignede (Saracens/Eng), Damien Traille (Pau), David Bory (Montferrand); Gerald Merceron (Montferrand), Fabien Galthie (Stade Francais, capt); Imanol Harinordoquy (Pau), Olivier Magne (Montferrand), Serge Betsen (Biarritz); Olivier Brouzet (Montferrand), Fabien Pelous (Toulouse); Pieter De Villiers (Stade Francais), Raphael Ibanez (Castres), Jean-Jacques Crenca (Agen)
Replacements used: Sylvain Marconnet (Stade Francais), Jean-Baptiste Rue (Agen), Sebastien Chabal (Bourgoin), Dmitri Yachvili (Biarritz) Xavier Garbajosa (Toulouse), David Auradou (Stade Francais), Francois Gelez (Agen)
Coach: Bernard Laporte
Canada
Winston Stanley (James Bay); Sean Fauth (Castaway Wanderers), Nik Witkowski (James Bay), John Cannon (Rotherham/Eng), Fred Asselin (James Bay); Bobby Ross (James Bay), Morgan Williams (Saracens/Eng); Phil Murphy (Perpignan/Fra), Ryan Banks (Burnaby Lake), Al Charron (Ottawa Irish, capt); Mike James (Stade Francais, Fra), John Tait (Cardiff, Wal); John Thiel (Bridgend, Wal), Pat Dunkley (James Bay), Rod Snow (Newport, Wal)
Replacements used: Adam van Staveren (Bayside), Marco Di Girolamo (James Bay), Jamie Cudmore (Llanelli/Wal), Mark Lawson (University of Victoria), Kevin Tkachuk (Oxford University/Eng), Ed Fairhurst (University of Victoria)
Not used: Jared Barker (RC d'Arras/Fra)
Coach: David Clark
Sin bin: Fred Asselin
Referee: David McHugh (Irl)