The 46-19 scoreline doesn’t do Canada justice and two of Clerc’s tries came in the final five minutes, but scrum-half Morgan Parra was in fine form, notching up 23 points with four conversions and five penalties.

And Lievremont was far more buoyant after his side’s display.

"I'm happy, of course," he said. "I was annoyed last week and I said so. I'm not going to be unhappy after every game. We got a bonus point, and that is just reward for the team and the public.

"That's not to say that everything was perfect, I got a bit annoyed but in general I'm satisfied."

Clerc put France on their way with the first try of the match but the Canucks responded through centre Ryan Smith as Canada edged ahead but Parra kicked France into a 19-10 half-time lead.

Damien Traille finally put daylight between the sides with a fine score after the interval before Clerc’s late cameo left stand-in captain Aurelien Rougerie content.

"Last week was a difficult first match for us," said Rougerie. "I am very proud of the French team. It's never easy against Canada.”