Despite being encouraged by his sides start to the tournament and Les Bleus stuttering form, the Azzurri supremo is playing down hopes of an upset at the Stade de France, insisting such high expectations could undo all the good work of new head coach Pierre Berbizier.

Dondi said: Everybody is expecting victories from us after the solid displays in the opening two games, but we must be careful - sometimes too much enthusiasm can take you in the wrong direction.

Playing at the Stade de France is a great thing for us, so it doesnt matter if in the end we lose that game.

But we most go onto the pitch thinking we are 15 warriors ready to battle anybody who stands in our way, and if we achieve it, Im sure even the French fans we will applaud us.

However, Dondi believes his side face an uphill struggle against a France side that has made three key changes to their side.

On Saturday we are going to face maybe the strong French squad in the last seven or eight months, Dondi said.

They called in few strong and remarkable players. I believe it will be hard for us - I dont say impossible, but certainly France need to win this important game if they hope to win the Six Nations.

But I have faith in my young team. If in the first two games we did well, in this game we must play more than well, we most be aggressive at all times and most importantly we must show our fans how proud we are to wear the Azzurri shirt.