The (France) team had undergone several changes since the World Cup with a new scrum half and that meant that it was bound to take a certain amount of time for the team to gel together. With lots of new players there it was bound to take some time.

The Irish were very aggressive and that destabilised us a bit initially and it took us some time to get our game together.

In the second half we needed to get a better defence together and start turning the ball over and once we started doing that then we started to play a more typical French rugby with lots of running and flowing play.

Vincent Clerc was very important for us and it is good that he is back in the group. He was very disappointed not to go to the World Cup - he did very well and played a good match and that was good to see.

Jean-Baptiste Elissalde did very well too and Pascal Pape and it was good to see them both score.

William Servat made a few mistakes in his throwing game at the lineouts but for a first selection he did well and that will be very good for his confidence.

Frederic Michalak was not quite right in his tactical kicking but he is not playing at the weekend.

Julien Peyrelongue is very good with his hands and we can expect an open match because he will play the ball a lot.

I watched Englands match with Italy. The Italians tried a new style of game with lots of three-quarter play but they came up against a very strong defence.

Italy are still on a learning curve and it is not easy for them. They lost to the better team even if Jonny Wilkinson was not playing and Martin Johnson is no longer there.

The team continues to progress and playing well - they have a good number 10 (Rima Wakarua) but on a tactical and a technical level they still have work to do.

They must work hard - put emphasis in defence and they need strong, fast players. I think with their number nine (Paul Griffen) and number 10 they can go forward.

They need a couple more real leaders on the pitch to take an extra step forward.