Galthie promises France is braced for Ireland
Fabien Galthie has promised France is prepared for whatever "chaos" it might encounter as it prepares to tackle Ireland in Dublin.
The thumping 50-10 win over Italy in Rome last week gave France a fast start to its Six Nations campaign, but it was always expected to win comfortably there, and taking on Ireland is a very different prospect.
Galthie has made two changes to his starting XV for Monday's (AEDT) game, bringing in wing Damien Penaud and flanker Anthony Jelonch for Teddy Thomas and Dylan Cretin.
France is looking for back-to-back wins over Ireland in the Six Nations for the first time since 2010-2011, having beaten it in Paris in October, but Les Bleus have lost five of the past seven encounters between the teams in the championship.
However, Galthie feels France is shaping up as an increasingly formidable force, saying: "You just have to look at the results. We won eight out of 10 matches."
The defeats in that sequence cited by Galthie came with 14 men at Murrayfield in last year's Six Nations, and in sudden death to England in the Autumn Nations Cup.
"In Scotland we lost after a red card and in London we lost in extra-time. We are doing it the right way, we continue our march," Galthie said. "We will continue to make progress in many areas. We have a significant space for improvement.
"You have to be prepared for any challenge, anywhere and against anyone. You have to prepare to experience chaos with as much solidity as possible.
"This is what we prepare for without forgetting to face the unexpected."
Galthie believes Penaud may be an ideal physical fit for the task of stopping Ireland, and he said of Jelonch: "He has this ability to be tough in combat, moreover the more the intensity rises, the more he becomes dominant."
