The Italian fly-half created the first try for Parisse, and the second for Martin Castrogiovanni, while also chipping in with ten points from the boot.

And with a trip to Scotland next up for the Azzurri, who will welcome Wales and Ireland to the Stadio Olimpico, Parisse believes his side have backed up their pre-tournament intent.

He said: “We are really happy with the victory. We spoke a lot before the Six Nations about our ambition as a team. When you talk, you don’t get the result or any credibility.

“Today we won against France, a team who played very well in November. For us it’s a fantastic beginning to the Six Nations so now we can enjoy this win but think about the Scotland game.

“I’m really happy to score also but it was a good play for the whole team. We kept the ball for a number of phases, I’m really happy because we played well when the French had the ball at the end.”

Kris Burton’s drop goal with ten minutes to go appeared to have killed off French hopes, but with time ticking away they earned a penalty deep in Italian territory and went a man up when Davide Giazzon was sin-binned.

However the Italians held on, and Parisse insisted it was no more than they deserved for their efforts.

He added: “Two years ago we had a scrum in the same situation but there was a knock-on.

“I was worried they would score a try in the last minute and we would have been very disappointed because we really deserved this victory.”