The XV du Chardon, which France has beaten only once in three matches since the end of the 2019 World Cup, had defeated the Blues during the 2021 Six Nations Tournament (23-27) after having already dominated them ( 28-17) at Murrayfield in 2020.

But, since then, "we have made a lot of progress in our game plan, we have more than twenty matches together, the group has a lot more experience", assured Marcoussis on Wednesday in the second line of Montpellier (29 years old, 21 selections) .

"The players have more experience than two years ago, it will no longer be a + first time + for them so there will be no question of surprise", he underlined.

"Every time we lost against them, it was mistakes due to our lack of experience," added Willemse.

Since then, he continued, the XV of France "beat great teams (including the All Blacks 40-25 in November, editor's note) so, for us, as we lost twice against them, (the match of Saturday is) a good match to show our progress over the past two years", since the arrival of Fabien Galthié at the head of the Blues, estimated the second line of Montpellier.

Some Blues have said these days that they were impressed during the 2020 Tournament by the decorum of Murrayfield, in particular the chants of the Scottish supporters.

"Opposing supporters are better than nothing, the worst being behind closed doors. We are used to noise on the pitch, we should not be surprised, we have talked about it but it is useless to talk about it too much, no more, you just have to stay calm," said Willemse.

The 2nd line of the XV of France, Paul Willemse, captures a ball in touch, during the match of the Six Nations Tournament against Scotland, March 8, 2020 at the Murrayfield Stadium in Edinburgh Anne-Christine POUJOULAT AFP / Archives

"Of course it's impressive and, for many, it produces more excitement, but it's up to us to keep it well to use it at the right time, to make good energy out of it and not to fall into the pressure, it That's the most important", explained the experienced second line.

The XV of France, the last undefeated team in the 2022 Tournament, can still dream of a first Grand Slam for twelve years.

© 2022 AFP