It was, however, a bittersweet success for New Zealand, the defending champions and six-times winners who were surprisingly beaten by Canada in the semi-finals.
France opened the scoring through Pauline Bourdon but it was almost all one-way traffic in the opposite direction after that as superbly-crafted tries by Ruahei Demant, Silvia Brunt, Renee Holmes and Laura Bayfield put the Black Ferns 26-7 ahead at the break.
Their 18-year-old winger Braxton Sorensen-McGee stretched that with two tries early in the second half – taking her tournament tally to 11 – before France hit back with three tries in 10 minutes by Lea Champon, Gaby Vernier and Emilie Boulard to give New Zealand a nervy finale.
England are odds-on favourites against Canada later on Saturday, when the final will be watched 82,000 fans, a huge world record for a women's rugby match.
