Best talking tough ahead of France showdown

Rory Best has warned Ireland they must be prepared to break through the pain barrier if they are to rescue their RBS 6 Nations by overcoming France.

A solitary victory since 1972 is all the Irish have to show from four decades of campaigning in Paris.

Urgency to end that abysmal record has been added by last weekend's agonising 23-21 loss to Wales, a result that has left their Six Nations teetering on the brink of disaster after just one round.

Best, who has endured defeat on both visits to the French capital, has outlined what it will take to humble the World Cup finalists and championship favourites.

"To win in France, for club or country, you have to go to places you didn't think were possible and come back from (them)," said the Ulster hooker.

"That's what we're gearing ourselves up for mentally. The key thing is that we arrive in Paris knowing what we must do to get that win."

While Ireland's commitment must be total if they are to secure a precious victory amid the sub-zero temperatures forecast for the Stade de France tomorrow night, retaining clear heads will also be paramount.

Previous attempts at storming the Stade de France have been undermined by kamikaze starts that have gifted Les Bleus an unassailable position.

On two occasions, in 2006 and 2008, they fought back valiantly and threatened to reel in their opponents, but ultimately had left themselves with too much ground to make up.

"We can't do our usual and go to Paris and be 20 points down after 20 minutes. We know that," said Best.

"There's something about going to Paris that in the first half-hour or 20 minutes we try to play them at their own game.

"There are times when we've been 20 points down but finished strongly with chances to win it and you get sick of that.

"We have to go there and must not get carried away with what they're doing. It's about implementing our gameplan.

"We want to play a quick tempo game, but we can't let it get too loose.

"France are very dangerous in broken field play. If we can't beat them up front and deny them ball, we'll go a long way to beating them.

"When you watch the Top 14, they pride themselves on their forward play. We need to match and better that."

Ireland's philosophical public outlook on the manner of their final-minute defeat to Wales masks a burning sense of injustice.

The disciplinary hearing convened to examine Stephen Ferris' tackle on Ian Evans stated that the Ireland flanker should not have been penalised, never mind sin-binned or cited.

Leigh Halfpenny kicked the penalty to secure a dramatic late victory. Best, however, believes Ireland should look closer to home when explaining the result.

"Once you start to feel grievance and start to blame the referee, you'll never get over it," he said.

"We know that we had opportunities to put the game out of reach, but we didn't take them and let ourselves down.

"We should have closed that game out and that's what made that defeat so hard to take.

"When you have a six-day turnaround between games you must forget about it to an extent.

"You need a little bit of hurt, a feeling in the changing room that you don't want to be back there, but we're all used to parking something and moving on.

"That's the good thing about facing France so soon - we know we have to move on and learn from the mistakes.

"Going to Paris to do something we haven't done for 12 years is an exciting prospect. That's why you play the game."

Best revealed that provincial colleague Ferris was devastated by referee Wayne Barnes' decision to penalise him.

"Stephen's a big, physical player but he also wears his heart on his sleeve," he said.

"You could see from his demeanour in the changing room that he was feeling it. The citing seemed to add to his woes.

"When he came in on Tuesday he was very down about it and it was sad to see.

"We were confident he had no case to answer, but you never know what way these hearings will go.

"It was certainly a different Stephen Ferris on Wednesday evening to who we'd seen on Monday and Tuesday. It was good to have him back."