France must step up a notch for World Cup, says coach

PARIS: Hosts France will need to step up a notch despite completing their World Cup preparation on Sunday with an emphatic victory over Australia, coach Fabien Galthie said.

France beat Australia 41-17 at the Stade de France in the last of four warm-up internationals to set down a marker but Galthie has already switched his focus to their opening game of the tournament against New Zealand in Paris on Sep 8.

“We have work to do. Now we are going to switch to competition mode, the preparation matches are over,” he told reporters after Sunday’s win over the Wallabies. “We're going to have to step up a notch at all levels.”

France will take on an All Blacks side who suffered a record reversal on Friday in their last warm-up test against South Africa in London but Galthie insisted he was not reading much into the 35-7 result.

“It's difficult to judge a preparation match. We agree what we saw Friday night was impressive from South Africa. But it's difficult to judge what was the psychological preparation of the All Blacks for this match and it’s difficult to draw lessons,” the French coach said.

“What I know is that the New Zealanders have just won their competition, the Rugby Championship, and that they were on a run of 11 official victories, not warm-up matches. For us, the New Zealanders remain the All Blacks, three-time World Cup winners. On Sep 8, we will have the best team in the world in front of us.”

Captain Antoine Dupont said Sunday’s performance had started slowly but got better.

“We had trouble putting our game in place and we weren't satisfied with our performance. What we did in the second half was better and we ended with a good score to validate our preparation.

“Everyone is aware of what now lies ahead and we all want