French target revenge

France will take “a spirit of revenge” with them into tomorrow night’s RBS 6 Nations clash against their World Cup conquerors England.

That is the message from hooker Dimitri Szarzewski as France face a rematch with England, barely four months after Brian Ashton’s men destroyed Les Bleus’ World Cup dream.

Szarzewski said: “There is always a special rivalry between the French and the English.

“Moreover, we will have a spirit of revenge with us because of the semi-final defeat in the World Cup.

“You don’t forget a defeat as important as that.

“We have to advance and not let that stop us, even though it will remain at the back of our minds. This is a new adventure – a new set of staff, a new system of playing.

“But above all, we want to continue on our push that we’ve had since the beginning of the tournament.”

England’s revered forward power built the platform on which host nation France made a painful World Cup exit.

Stade Francais star Szarzewski knows the physical threat is something France must combat in the quest to preserve an eight-year unbeaten home Six Nations record against England.

“England are a huge team,” he told L’Equipe.

“We know England’s strong points. They will put a lot of pressure on us in the scrum, in the places where they can win.

“It is very hard to play against them. They have massive, strong and powerful players.

“It is up to us to stand up to them in this area but also to answer them with a game to ruffle them, score tries and win.

“It is a good test, but all the games are tests.”

Szarzewski’s battle with England hooker Mark Regan could prove a feisty contest, because neither player is noted for taking a backward step.

Szarzewski has hardly been in a mood to dampen things down between them, adding: “I won’t pay much attention to him.

“He is unbearable because of his behaviour. We know him; he talks a lot, and he needs to do something with that.

“He has talked to me a lot, but it is okay because I don’t understand English well – so I let it go.

“Whatever happens, we have to ignore it; we cannot allow the team to be punished by losing our cool.

“I hope to punish them [England] within the limits of the game.”

France currently head the Six Nations on points difference from Wales, having beaten Scotland at Murrayfield and Ireland in Paris.