Machenaud has started both defeats in partnership with under-fire fly-half Frederic Michalak and with trips to Twickenham and then Dublin up next the pressure is on to put things right.

But the Racing Metro No.9, who started France’s wins over Australia and Argentina in the autumn internationals, is adamant that France will come out fighting in the face of adversity.

“To go and get a win at Twickenham would be a beautiful thing. The tournament is far from over and we have to lift our heads,” he said.

“Of course it’s going to be difficult to win there but if we can do it that would be great, we are bottom of the table and we have two difficult trips still to come so we will have to roll our sleeves up.

“We have had two successive defeats that we really didn’t expect, naturally we wanted to start the tournament slightly differently.

“This is my first Six Nations and it doesn’t feel great to have started it like this. But this can be a lesson to take forward. The success we had in the autumn is what we are missing at the moment.”