France coach Marc Lievremont praised his team's character as they ended their RBS 6 Nations campaign on a high with an impressive 50-8 triumph over Italy in Rome.

"A convincing win to end the tournament can only be great," Lievremont said. "We played a very good first half and although the second half was more confusing, it was nevertheless good."

Lievremont believes his team made progress today but the result against Italy did not erase last Saturday´s huge disappointment. "This result doesn't take away the hit we endured from our defeat to England," he said. "The loss to England will mark our history and this win does not take that pain away.

"We have lacked consistency in the tournament and that is something we will need to improve. Nevertheless, it was positive that my team bounced back with pride and I am satisfied that my team finished the tournament with this performance."

Lievremont believed Italy played well in the second half, just as they predicted they would. "We know how Italy play because many of their players play in France. We knew they would put good moves together and they did in some stages of the second half."

Italy coach Nick Mallett was hugely disappointed with his team´s performance. "We played very badly. We made many mistakes. When you take on 21 points as quickly as we did, it puts you on the back foot. The team played poorly today and France made us pay for it." Having conceded a total of 120 points and 14 tries in losing to England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales, Mallett's men had hoped for some damage control against Les Bleus. "We saw the best Italy against Wales and the worst Italy against France," Mallett said. "It was incredibly frustrating for me today. My team played well at times but we just don't have the players with enough pace to finish off moves."

"It has been a poor Six Nations from us," Mallett said. "We have been affected by the new laws. In Italian rugby, there hasn't been a lot of work done on the backline play. It's quite clear that we need to improve our standard to perform in the Six Nations.

"I am quite prepared to take full responsibility for my team but I find it naive to blame a head coach because we need to look at further deep issues regarding the problems of Italian rugby. The new laws demand that you play with your backs and your forwards."