France coach Marc Lievremont is relishing the prospect of Saturday's Six Nations decider against Wales - even though he expects his team to be made less than welcome at Cardiff's Millennium Stadium.
Les Bleus need to win by at least 20 points this weekend to retain the title they have held for the past two years.
That will not be straightforward, with their unbeaten opponents having the vast majority of an 80,000 crowd behind them.
"We have spoken to the players about it," said Lievremont, who played in the same stadium for France in the 1999 World Cup final.
"It is a true challenge to play in this hostile stadium. It will be difficult but it is exciting for them."
The match should be entertaining and full of running rugby, with both sides renowned for the brio in the backs.
Les Bleus have regained their 'French Flair' tag under Lievremont, who is adamant his team must play their own game at the weekend.
"It is out of the question that we let them have possession of the ball, that isn't the way we want to play it," he said.
"We aren't happy just to hold off our opponent, we want to show our own game like we did at the start of the tournament, sometimes very well.
"If we let them settle into the game and into their style of rugby, and give them confidence in a white-hot atmosphere, we really will be running into a dead end."
Teams:
Wales: L Byrne (Ospreys); M Jones (Llanelli Scarlets), T Shanklin (Cardiff Blues), G Henson (Ospreys), S Williams (Ospreys); J Hook (Ospreys), M Phillips (Ospreys); G Jenkins (Cardiff Blues), H Bennett (Ospreys), A Jones (Ospreys), I Gough (Ospreys), AW Jones (Ospreys), J Thomas (Ospreys), M Williams (Cardiff Blues), R Jones (Ospreys, capt).
Replacements: M Rees (Llanelli Scarlets), D Jones (Ospreys), I Evans (Ospreys), G Delve (Gloucester), D Peel (Llanelli Scarlets), S Jones (Llanelli Scarlets), S Parker (Ospreys).
France: A Floch (Clermont-Auvergne); V Clerc, Y Jauzion (both Toulouse), D Traille (Biarritz), J Malzieu (Clermont-Auvergne); D Skrela (Stade Francais), J-B Elissalde (Toulouse); F Barcella (Auch), D Szarzewski (Stade Francais), N Mas (Perpignan), L Nallet (Castres, capt), J Thion (Biarritz), T Dusautoir (Toulouse), F Ouedraogo (Montpellier), J Bonnaire (Clermont-Auvergne).
Replacements: W Servat, J-B Poux (both Toulouse), A Mela (Albi), E Vermeulen (Clermont-Auvergne), D Yachvili (Biarritz), F Trinh-Duc (Montpellier), C Heymans (Toulouse).
More news from SportingLife.com



