But while Lievremont has caused a stir amongst fans and pundits alike, the England team has been quick to play down the importance of his comments.

And Smith feels the controversial statements were intended more as a motivation to the reigning Grand Slam champions than any attempt to unsettle Martin Johnson’s in-form team.

“He got the war cry out nice and early and that's a signal for his squad to put them on notice,” said Smith who won six caps for Australia and a further nine for Ireland.

“It hasn't gone unnoticed in our camp but whether he said anything or not we were expecting it to be titanic.

“We are excited by the challenge, we know it is going to be a big physical battle.

“We hope the conditions are good enough for both teams to play a bit.

“It's a strong French squad and Marc Lievremont has shown he's prepared to roll the dice with his selections.

“There've been times when he's been criticised for that but he's also come up trumps as well.

“We know we are going to be in for a hell of a battle on Saturday.

“The best rugby team is going to win and we hope through our performance we'll come out on top.”