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France beat Canada to reach World Cup quarter-finals

Veteran back Frederic Michalak ran the show as France ultimately pulverised a plucky Canada side to register their third victory in the rugby World Cup. The sucess takes them into the last eight of the competition. Their final match against Ireland on 11 October will decide if they advance as winners of Pool D.

Frederic Michalak became France's record points scorer at the World Cup during the match against Canada.
Frederic Michalak became France's record points scorer at the World Cup during the match against Canada. Reuters/Andrew Boyers Livepic
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Frederic Michalak became France's all-time World Cup points scorer on Thursday night as his side became the first to reach the quarter-finals with a 41-18 win over Canada.

The 33-year-old fly-half, already his country's leading scorer, scored 14 points to go 12 past Thierry Lacroix's mark of 124.

Michalak, who plies his trade at Toulon in France's Top 14, earned the man-of-the-match award in front of a record crowd for Stadium mk of 28,145.

France's final game in Pool D takes place on 11 October against Ireland.

France coach Philippe Saint-André said he was pleased with the overall result despite a passage of sloppy play which allowed the Canadians to fight back from 17-0 to 17-12.

"The end result is three games, three wins and 14 points from a possible 15," said Saint-André. "As a group we are eager to go far and we have some huge games to come starting with Ireland."

Michalak was involved with France's opening points. In the fourth minute he burst free, drew his defender and passed the ball to Wesley Fofana who ran the ball in. Michalak converted the try and the two points drew his points tally level with Lacroix's record of 122.

He broke it in the 15th minute slotting over a penalty to make it 10-0.

Michalak added another two points to his pile when he converted Guilhem Guirado's try. At 17-0, it looked like it would be a long, painful day for the Canadians.

But following tries from DTH van der Merwe and Aaron Carpenter, the underdogs were within sight at 17-12.

But it was a brief vision of an upset. Rabah Slimani scored a try and Michalak converted for a 24-12 lead at half-time.

Following the break, Michalak's boot kept the Canadians at bay and the French grabbed the bonus point for a fourth try when Pascal Pape squeezed the ball through a mass of bodies.

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