I think the French were mentally ready for this game. In rugby, when you are mentally ready, you get better in the one-on-one situations, there is a unity that is being created amongst the players and everything becomes easier. On Sunday the French team found its reflexes on simple things, the ball possession was good and the talent and style of players like Vincent Clerc and Cedric Heymans did the rest.

The reason for such cohesion despite the short preparation and all the changes that occured in the team recently can be explained simply: the youngsters wanted to prove they had the level required and the veterans wanted to show their reliability. They also spent five full days together and that helps a lot to create bonds.

Lionel Nallet was a model captain by showing self-denial and courage to his men. This is thanks to all these things that the French team remained so united for 80 minutes.

I would not say that France are now the big favourites of the tournament, although they have three home games and they are the title holders. The next game is always different and against Ireland we are going to have to play well again and enjoy it.

For me Ireland are not down mentally even though they have been trying to find their game in the past 15 to 18 months, they completely missed out on the 2007 World Cup and did not play that well against Italy at the weekend. But we will have to be wary of them because they will come to the Stade de France with no pressure at all and nothing to be scared about.