France 47 Japan 21

FRANCE coach Marc Lièvremont has thrown down the gauntlet to his players ahead of Saturday’s World Cup warm-up with Ireland in Bordeaux by declaring that Les Bleus are now in “competition mode”.

Biarritz forward Raphael Lakafia will make his France debut against Ireland in Bordeaux on Saturday.

WALES went into Saturday’s game knowing they needed to beat France by 27 points to snatch the Six Nations title from England.

France 28 Wales 9

A PUBLIC spat between France coach Marc Lièvremont, his Stade Francais counterpart Michael Cheika and centre Mathieu Bastareaud is threatening to overshadow France’s preparations for Sunday’s Six Nations encounter with Ireland at the Aviva Stadium.

AUSTRALIA coach Robbie Deans has stressed the importance of tomorrow’s Test with France as the Wallabies look to end their European tour on a high note.

Lionel Nallet talks to Ian Moriarty about Racing Metro’s ambitions in their first Heineken Cup.

Argentina fly-half Juan-Martin Hernandez and French winger Benjamin Fall will not travel with the Racing Metro squad that will face Leinster in the opening round of the Heineken Cup next Saturday at the RDS (kick off: 1:30pm), it was confirmed today.

ARGENTINA bounced back from their home series defeat by Scotland in style with a record thrashing of Six Nations champions France in Buenos Aires.

IF Martin Johnson needed any reassurance the anguish of developing a new England team can ultimately be worth it, he need only listen to Marc Lievremont.

FRANCE defence coach Dave Ellis was delighted with his side’s six-try show against Italy as Les Bleus remained on course for the Grand Slam.

BACK from injury and looking “big, strong and fit,” Stephen Ferris last night gave Ireland a massive Six Nations boost by presenting himself for duty ahead of tomorrow’s Stade de France rendezvous with France.

France lock Lionel Nallet has warned Les Bleus to be on their guard against Ireland this weekend – but has not been overly gushing in his analysis of Declan Kidney’s Grand Slam champions.

WORLD champions South Africa suffered a second successive loss on their northern hemisphere tour as France triumphed in Toulouse last night.

Italy 8 France 50

England star Jonny Wilkinson is one of a number of high-profile targets of Racing Metro, the French club have confirmed.

France captain Lionel Nallet admits his position in Les Bleus’ starting XV is under threat heading into Saturday’s RBS 6 Nations match against Scotland in Paris.

Ireland enter their 2009 RBS 6 nations opener against France today in the unusual position of being favourites for the fixture.

It should have been the perfect day. Croke Park, brimful with expectation, had opened its doors to rugby for the first time but, on a historic day of outward celebration for Irish sport, all was silenced by a piece of late Gallic magic.

ULSTER’s Paddy Wallace may get the nod to start at centre for Ireland when Declan Kidney today names his first Six Nations XV for the clash with France at Croke Park on Saturday.

France’s injury worries have cleared up ahead of their RBS 6 Nations opener against Ireland in Dublin on Saturday.

Leinster captain Brian O'Driscoll has been passed fit for their Heineken Cup game against Castres tonight.

Leinster will not have to deal with the massive physical presence of France and Castres Olympique captain Lionel Nallet in the Heineken Cup on Saturday week.

FRANCE captain Lionel Nallet preferred to dwell on his team’s victory over Italy rather than the prospect of registering a heavy win against Wales next weekend to retain the RBS 6 Nations Championship title.

England arrive in Paris seeking a first Six Nations victory at Stade de France for eight years today.

PHIL VICKERY has called on his England players to take ownership and responsibility for their performances when they tackle RBS Six Nations title favourites France tomorrow.

FRANCE head coach Marc Lievremont maintains the second-half implosion against Ireland should not cloud the overall impression of his side’s progress during the first two rounds of the RBS 6 Nations Championship.

Ireland head coach Eddie O’Sullivan praised his players’ guts and determination after seeing them fall just short of a remarkable comeback win against France.

AURELIEN ROUGERIE insists France will pay a heavy penalty if they underestimate Ireland in Saturday’s RBS 6 Nations clash in Paris.

NEW-LOOK France got their RBS 6 Nations Championship campaign off to the perfect start with an impressive victory against lacklustre Scotland at Murrayfield.

He may not have been everybody’s choice to lead the France national team into a new era, particularly given the calibre of candidates running against him, but none could provide the continuity offered in the appointment of Lievremont.

MARC LIEVREMONT didn’t take long to usher in a new dawn in French rugby yesterday by naming six uncapped players in a much-changed squad for the Six Nations Championship opener against Scotland.

Lionel Nallet admitted it came as a “massive surprise” to be appointed the new captain of France.

France 64 Georgia 7

FRANCE coach Bernard Laporte names his team today to face Ireland in Friday’s crunch Rugby World Cup game, having postponed the announcement by 24 hours.

France winger Vincent Clerc believes Ireland will be looking to exact revenge when they take on Les Bleus in the pivotal World Cup Pool D showdown at the Stade de France on Friday.

WORLD Cup hosts France took out nine days of pent-up frustration on Namibia with a resounding victory that will have drawn nervous glances from Ireland last night.

LAWRENCE DALLAGLIO emerged from the ruins left by England’s latest calamitous away day collapse — a 22-9 loss to France — and conceded: “This has given us a bit of a reality check.”

RAPHAEL IBANEZ went through the whole range of emotions in the final heart-stopping minutes of France’s dramatic 46-19 success over Scotland, which clinched yet another RBS 6 Nations Championship title.

England face a France side gunning for the Grand Slam, after they followed up away victories over Italy and Ireland with a come-from-behind 32-21 win over Wales at the Stade de France on Saturday.

Wales were looking to upset the form book in their RBS 6 Nations Championship clash with France tonight.

A LOT has been made of Bernard Laporte’s insistence on experimentation for this year’s RBS 6 Nations Championship, but it will be interesting to see if France’s head coach sticks to his word following the comprehensive opening day rout of beleaguered Italy.

France head coach Bernard Laporte has made seven changes for his side’s clash with New Zealand in Paris on Saturday.