Ireland captain Johnny Sexton says the annual scrutiny of him in the French media is no longer a surprise.
It comes after Montpellier head coach Philippe Saint Andre suggested Ireland could be even better without their 36-year-old out-half.
When asked by newspaper Midi Olympique whether Ireland still depend on Sexton, the former France boss replied: "Less and less, I find.
"In fact, to be honest, they are maybe better without him.
"I like Ross Byrne, he is capable of exceptional things. Yes, Sexton is an icon, he remains the starter, but Byrne has played more than him this season at Leinster. They have a new generation who are showing up well, who are interesting."
It's the second year in a row that Sexton has found himself under the spotlight in the week of an Ireland-France meeting.
Twelve months ago the captain was deeply unhappy with comments made by a neurosurgeon he saw while playing for Racing 92, who spoke in detail about the player's history of concussion.
And while Saint Andre's comments this week are far less serious, the Irish captain says he's become well used to being the centre of attention when Ireland face Les Bleus.
"Whether it's home or away, there's always something from one direction or another, whether it's inside the camp or outside the camp," Sexton said this afternoon.
"The one you're referring (Saint Andre's comments) to is obviously outside the camp. You can't control what people say, you have to do your talking on the pitch.
"It's nothing new for me in this fixture to have some things thrown at me that you wouldn't expect."
After extending their winning run to nine games against Wales in Round 1, Andy Farrell's side will mark a full year unbeaten when they face France in Paris, with Les Bleus the last side to defeat them on Valentine's Day 2021.
Ireland's winning run has only included two away games; their trips to Rome and Murrayfield which kicked off the unbeaten stretch, and Sexton says winning at Stade de France on Saturday would represent a big step for his side's development.
"It's important. We're at the Stade de France and in 18 months’ time we’re going to have two group games in the World Cup.
"It would be good to have good memories of this place but away from home you just need to realise what you are up against.
"It will be a hostile crowd. It will be 50-50 decisions that tend to go against you. That's what you are up against but once the game starts it’s the same size pitch and we’re just focusing on our performance.
"We haven’t spoken too much yet about the fact that it’s away but we’re hoping that there’s a big performance in us away from home.
"An incredible stadium (Stade de France), with an incredible atmosphere. We obviously don't want an incredible atmosphere because it means normally they're going well, we want more silence this week.
"They are a very, very good team we're coming up against, but in terms of the stadium, one of the best in the world, and one of the most enjoyable ones to play in," the Leinster out-half added.
France lead by points difference at the top of the table following the opening round of games, with both sides earning bonus point wins against Italy and Wales respectively.
And while head coach Farrell was extremely pleased with the nature of the win against the Welsh in the immediate aftermath of Saturday's 29-7 victory, Sexton says they've since identified a number of areas to improve on.
"It's across the board, there was lots of good stuff in one area of the game, say our defence, but there are a couple of moments we didn't quite win. We're always trying to win as many moments as we can. If you don't you have to try learn from them.
"When the best teams win, they still learn and take the lessons from victory, and we did that in November really well off the back of the Japan game, the New Zealand game and I hope we'll learn a lot having beaten Wales.
"We learned some hard lessons last year in the first two games, the big thing about that was we had two losses and everything to play for was gone. Now we have a win and it's a lot nicer place to be when you're learning."
