France were dominant throughout their clash with Ukraine, who had a big, vociferous following cheering them on in the stands. Winger Nittim Pedrero crossed for a hat trick of first half tries inside 14 minutes, with Guillermo Aispuro-Bichet a handful throughout in the centres, finishing with two of the host’s 14 touchdowns.

“That was pretty good, it’s always tough not knowing what to expect from the opposition,” said France men’s head coach Lauren Frayssinous. “They were tough and physical and our boys stood up to them in that area so I am proud of them. We now look forward to playing Wales and trying to select the right, fresh combinations, we can’t wait.”

Skipper Oleksandr Skorbach’s try on the hour got the biggest cheer from the Ukrainian followers, Tigris Polata with the final score of the game gaining similar acclaim. Ukraine head coach, Dan Beardshaw, noted: “I couldn’t be prouder of our boys who have not played a team of that quality before. It was a bit of a baptism of fire at time, the speed of the game and controlling the ruck, but that will improve the more we can face challenges like these. I was very pleased with how we approached the second half and the support we had was fantastic and helped bring out our emotion.”