But during the Six Nations France face Italy, England and Ireland away from home – and Saint-Andre has called on his side to produce their home form on their travels.

“We know the big problem of French rugby is to be consistent,” said Saint-Andre, speaking at the official launch of the RBS 6 Nations 2013 in London.

“We won four games consecutively in the autumn. This is quite a big event for French rugby, but we would like more and more of this.

“On our best day we can beat the best in the world – on our worst we can lose to anyone.

“It’s a big step this Six Nations because we have three away games. We did well in the autumn, but we were at home.

“This year is big. We are trying to show how tough we can be mentally and physically away from home.”
Saint-Andre also praised his captain Pascal Pape, who has retained the role despite the return to fitness of Thierry Dusautoir.

“We won four games consecutively in November and Thierry Dusautoir was still injured a few weeks ago with his knee, so I think it was very important to carry on with Pascal as captain,” he added.

“I think with Pascal, what you see is what you get. He gelled very well with the young players, the young players respect him and I think he has a lot of charisma.”