France’s 42-27 win over Ireland in Dublin on Saturday propelled them into the lead in the Six Nations title chase.
But their free-scoring form has not only got the trophy engraver sharpening his tools, it is forcing a rewriting of historic records.
Wing Louis Bielle-Biarrey’s scorching form has delivered seven tries in four matches – a record for a Frenchman in a Six Nations campaign.
With a match to go in this year’s tournament, he is already level with Ireland wing Jacob Stockdale’s record for tries in a single edition of the competition.
If he crosses again against Scotland in Paris on Saturday, the 21-year-old will turn his sights to the all-time record in the tournament.
England’s Cyril Lowe and Scotland’s Ian Smith scored eight tries in the 1914 and 1925 championships respectively.
If he draws level with Lowe and Smith, Bielle-Biarrey will also match compatriot Philippe Bernat-Salles’ unique achievement from the 2001 tournament of scoring in every match.
Bielle-Biarrey now has 17 tries from his first 18 caps but has some way to go to catch his Bordeaux-Begles team-mate Damian Penaud.
Penaud crossed for his 38th try for France in the win over Ireland, equalling the record held by the legendary Serge Blanco.
The 28-year-old has reached his tally in significantly fewer games though, having won 55 caps to Blanco’s 93.
Thomas Ramos is another French player with an eye on a landmark. The 29-year-old will surpass former fly-half Frederic Michalak as France’s all-time record points scorer if he can score seven points to reach a total of 437.
Barring a wasteful defeat by England in round two, France have been ruthless.
They have scored 26 tries in four matches, 11 of them in the 74-23 thrashing of Italy, which is France’s biggest win since they joined the championship in 1910.
If they keep up that rate of scoring, they will comfortably break the record for tries scored in a single campaign, which was set by England when they crossed 29 times en route to the title in 2001.
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