Pool D: France v IrelandFrench coach Bernard Laporte will this morning reveal his team to play Ireland at the Stade de France aware that several players have offered compelling cases for selection following the 13-try thumping of Namibia in Toulouse on Sunday night.
In terms of the back three it appears that Clement Poitrenaud might have done enough to win the fullback slot, leaving Aurélien Rougerie, Cedric Heymans and Ireland's nemesis Vincent Clerc fighting for the two wing positions.
Damien Traille and Yannick Jauzion should form the centre partnership, with Freddie Michalak joined by Jean-Baptiste Elissalde at halfback, the latter retaining the captaincy if Raphael Ibanez is ruled out through injury.
If that proves the case then Dimitri Szarzewski should be named at hooker with two-try hero Lionel Nallet joining Jerome Thion in the second row.
The back row is a hugely competitive area but Serge Betsen could be joined by Julien Bonnaire and on current form possibly Sebastien Chabal at number eight.
The latter played in the second row against Namibia but is pressing strongly for a starting place in the back row.
Imanol Harinordoquy (fractured thumb), Yannick Nyanga and the impressive Thierry Dusautoir will also press strongly for inclusion.
Despite their facile 87-10 victory against Namibia, the French are wary of Ireland, even if the visitors to Stade de France on Friday have been out of sorts to date.
Clerc, who scored the match-winning try at Croke Park in the Six Nations Championship last spring admitted, "The Irish don't seem to be at their best but I don't think they will be an easy prey.
"They are struggling to find their rhythm but I'm sure they will show us their true face on Friday. When you drop a player like Peter Stringer from your 22-man squad, it means something.
"Our fate is in our hands. We have first to concentrate on the Ireland game and then we'll hope that the Irish pip the Pumas.
"We know them well, they are proud and they need a good performance. We are in the same position.
"They will be under pressure but so shall we and extra pressure can sometimes bring extra motivation."
Clerc, who scored three tries against Namibia, smiled when asked about Croke Park.
"Maybe it will not be their main factor of motivation because the World Cup is a different competition but I'm sure they will remember the 2003 quarter-final when they imploded against France and lost 43-21 in Melbourne.
"I feel great, we have prepared well, now we are all ready and we believe we will go far. We expect to build up our performances to a crescendo.
"We won't let ourselves get down under the pressure again. I am having a great time, we are getting the ball and we are playing it.
"The France team has showed it has got character; we have got lots of spirit in reserve."
Back-row forward Bonnaire also counselled caution and refused to place too much store in Ireland's performances to date in the tournament.
"It's true the Irish did not have a great match against the Namibians," he said. "They remain a good side and they can be dangerous. Friday will be on us very quickly and we haven't wasted time.
"As soon as the Namibia game was over we started looking at Ireland. In the Six Nations tournament we started off well, but then we relaxed the pressure and they came back at us and put us in difficulty.
"They are always a difficult team to play against. First we need to attend to a few errors we made during the Namibia match.
"We have got to play (the Ireland game) and enjoy it, like we did against Namibia. We must keep that spirit going. It was important to rediscover our game.
"We scored a lot of tries but not everything is perfect; some work remains to be done.
"Next we have to produce a great performance against Ireland; then we will do the calculating afterwards."
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