Four tries from forwards Aida Ba, Cyrielle Bouisset, Marine de Nadai and Gaëlle Mignot as well as a penalty from Aurélie Bailon were enough to set up a potential Grand Slam decider against England in a fortnight.

In contrast the Scots are still searching for their first point of the tournament, after again being kept scoreless by a powerful French outfit.

It took Les Bleues most of the first quarter to open the scoring but they eventually broke through on 19 minutes when good work from the forwards saw No.8 Ba crash over.

Bailon added a penalty towards the end of the first half and the French stretched their lead just before the break as the Scottish pack was again put under pressure with second row Bouisset going over.

The visitors continued to dominate up front after the break and that pressure told when hooker Mignot went over for their third try of the game.

Things went from bad to worse for Scotland when prop Tracy Balmer was sent to the bin for persistent scrummaging infringements, and despite valiantly trying to hold out, second row de Nadai went over against the 14 women to stretch the lead further.

Back up to their full complement the Scots battled bravely but could not find a way through, and will now travel to Ireland in search of a first win in a fortnight.