Baby gets four-week ban for attack on O'Driscoll

Isabelle Rondeau, Paris

The 21-year-old Baby made a try-scoring debut for the French in the 26-19 win at Lansdowne Road but the ban will rule him out of the final match with Italy in Rome.

He is sidelined from rugby until April 14 but the ban could, under IRB rules, have been up to a year.

Baby will also miss his club side Toulouse’s Heineken Cup quarter-final with Northampton on April 1.

Meanwhile France captain Fabien Pelous refuses to give up hope his side can overcome the odds and retain their RBS 6 Nations crown this weekend.

Winners of the Grand Slam last year, Bernard Laporte’s side travel to Rome’s Stadio Flaminio on Saturday to complete their programme against Italy.

Les Bleus can still finish top of the table, but they need to beat the Italians by at least 50 points and hope Ireland win in Wales.

Pelous is not giving up the ghost just yet, although he admits it is going to be a tough ask.

“Finishing in the top place? We both believe in it and we don’t at the same time,” he said. “What counts the most after all is how we play. If we feel we have a chance we will take it but Italy will be tough opponents, I am sure.

“They have gradually improved each year, they are developing their game. Even though they are not the best team in the world, we will have to concentrate. Claiming that we can beat Italy by a large score is inappropriate and disrespectful.”

Meanwhile, England coach Andy Robinson has challenged his players to sharpen their execution and finish the Championship with a rousing Calcutta Cup victory over Scotland.

Robinson said: “We are moving forward and that is the key for us. Right from day one and that poor performance against Wales I think we have really moved forward.

“We have to improve our execution. We scored six tries but went through the video and realised we could have scored another 10 from clear-cut opportunities we created but did not finish off.

“Now we have to focus on playing Scotland. We really want to finish this tournament on a high. Both teams have had opportunities in this series of matches and haven’t taken them.”

Defence is Phil Larder’s domain and while there is still plenty of room for improvement, he is delighted with England’s record now.

“I am tremendously happy considering where we were at the end of the summer. Against New Zealand and Australia we conceded 13 tries in three matches.

“In the Six Nations we have conceded three tries in four matches, fewer than any other nation,” said Larder.

“The improvement has been quite dramatic.”