They kick off the Championship against Ireland today knowing full well what to expect in Le Mans.
Although Les Bleues are on a six-match winning streak since their last defeat at Donnybrook in 2017 (18-25), they want to a strong start to the tournament and have prepared accordingly.
“This is a group that works hard. They work very hard physically in the clubs. Everyone has been working hard. We had training camps with the forwards [in January and March] to develop other aspects. We've gone through a lot of steps so far. Obviously, we're keen to make a strong start to the competition,” said Gaëlle Mignot, who along with David Ortiz is co-head coach of the national team.
“We are competitors, and we want to win. It's important that we get some things right this weekend. We want to put our game plan into action against an opponent who will be tough and challenging, with the girls playing sevens. Now is the time to come out strong in competition.”
The contribution of the sevens players
Although the absence of co-captain Sam Monaghan is a blow to the squad, Ireland coach Scott Bemand has called up three of the sevens players who won the HSBC SVNS Perth at the end of January. This was Ireland's first ever women's tournament win on the global sevens circuit.
Winger Béibhinn Parsons will make her first start in the tournament in almost three years, while 18-year-old Katie Corrigan will make her debut on the other wing. Béibhinn will be joined by centre Eve Higgins and scrum-half Aoibheann Reilly, who made history in Perth.
The threat is being taken seriously by France, who are also continuing to build the bridge between XVs and sevens.
“All the nations are preparing hard for the World Cup. Ireland's line-up is proof of this, with the sevens players integrating, especially on the wing and in the centre - two iconic players in the Irish sevens team,” says Gaëlle Mignot.
Agathe Sochat: “We have to be careful”
The French believe that Ireland can spring a surprise, having won the WXV 3 title in Dubai last autumn, when they defeated Kazakhstan 109-0, Colombia 64-3, and Spain 15-13.
“They are making progress,” says scrum-half Pauline Bourdon Sansus (52 caps). “We will expect them to be very aggressive.
“We are a team that plays a lot. And if we're under pressure, it puts us in a bit of trouble. They're going to come at us. We need to play our game and not get overwhelmed by this start to the competition. We're concentrating a lot on ourselves, our game and what we want to achieve. If we can do that, it will lead to wins and the whole competition.”
Admittedly, the record in recent years in the Guinness Women's Six Nations suggests that France will dominate the match - 3-53 in 2023, 40-5 in 2022, 15-56 in 2021 - which they have won 18 times and lost just three times. But they remain focused.
“Ireland are a bit like their men's team. They're a team that can keep the ball for a long time, they're physical and they have a fairly precise system,” says hooker Agathe Sochat (47 caps).
“We have to be careful that we don't know how to react to what they put in front of us and that we make a lot of mistakes. They can capitalise on our mistakes and that can quickly cost us. We need to be disciplined and play hard so that we can have a big game.”
One final statistic that could work in France's favour is that they have won their first-round match in 12 of the last 15 editions of the Guinness Women's Six Nations.
While Ireland have only won the tournament twice in its history (2013, the year of the Grand Slam, and 2015), France have six titles to their name, including five Grand Slams, the last of which came in 2018.
Having finished as runners-up in the last four editions, Les Bleues will be looking to end their drought, starting with the first leg against Ireland.
