Les Bleus swept away their rivals in 2004, winning the tournament in style with their second Grand Slam in three years, but Pelous believes they will be hard pressed to achieve that this year.

It's going to be a tougher tournament because we are travelling to our top two rivals, which are England and Ireland, not to mention the emergence of Wales, he said.

France will also play three matches out of five away from the Stade de France and that is felt to be a big disadvantage.

This is never good to play away from our ground, especially because in the French spirit there is some sort of tradition to be more motivated in front of our crowd than anywhere else, said Pelous.

This is rooted in the origins of rural rugby where the purpose of each match was to defend one's village.

The 2005 RBS 6 Nations will be one of the many stages for Les Bleus on the road to the next World Cup, which will be held in France in less than three years.

For Pelous, who will be almost 34 by then, the next couple of years will determine if he is to finish his international career on a high.

I am not obsessed with the World Cup but I certainly think about it a lot, he added. We must all prepare for it and the programme has already started with specific muscle training to follow for the internationals.

We must arrive at the start of the competition in the best physical condition possible.

But once again the charismatic player insists that the demands from the clubs and the national team are not always compatible.

It's sometimes hard to cope with everything and the lapse of form we suffered in our last two matches in November against Argentina and New Zealand were related to that, I think, he said.

The Top 16 clubs and the national team have different - if not totally opposed - objectives. And sometimes the players feel torn apart. It's been a long time since we complained and expressed our concerns.

But in a way, because the French team remain efficient and win titles as well as the clubs, nothing drastic is being done. I guess we must work harder and prepare better.