Bernard Jackman and Sean Cronin say they haven't been fooled by France's shaky Six Nations start, although they still believe Ireland will make it two wins from two when the sides meet this Saturday at the Aviva Stadium (live on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player).
The defending Six Nations champions looked out of sorts at times in their Guinness Six Nations opener against Italy in Rome, needing to hold off a late Italian comeback to avoid what would have been a shock defeat.
Fabien Galthie's side, who haven't been beaten since July 2021, travel to Dublin as underdogs despite winning each of their last three meetings with Ireland.
And Jackman says he expects France to come out with a point to prove on Saturday afternoon.
"It's easy for them to build this into a bit of a cause," Jackman told the RTÉ Rugby podcast.
"They're the Grand Slam champions, Ireland are going to be favourites, they feel they should be number one in the world, Ireland are technically number one in the world.
"They're 14 games unbeaten, but they'll twist it that they're not getting respect they deserve."
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"Every week he just does something that makes me say 'Wow'... That fella is class."
Les Bleus were unusually sloppy at Stadio Olimpico, giving up a 19-6 lead at one stage, only for Mathieu Jalibert's try in the final quarter nudging them back in front.
And Jackman says their poor performance will ultimately just focus the minds of the French squad.
"It was a poor performance against Italy, Shaun Edwards will be furious with them. This sounds bad, but they would have been confident enough they'd win against Italy, and at the end of the championship if they win it, people will say it was the five points they got against Italy. It wasn't a big drama in the end.
"I do think some of their players looked a bit fatigued. I thought, particularly Dupont, Ntamack weren't at their best for Toulouse going into this competition, but those kind of players, big occasion, must win game, they can turn it on and they'll be significantly better," he added.
Former Ireland hooker Sean Cronin agreed that the Grand Slam champions simply had an off day in Rome.
However, while he believes France will come with a much better attitude to Dublin, the continued absence of the injured Jonathan Danty is a major loss.
"There's too much quality in that squad to be saying that they can't get things right this weekend," Cronin said.
"They're missing a couple of key players as well, like Danty. [Yoram] Moefana is a good player, but Danty gets them over the gainline and they build their game off that.
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"They'll be a huge test this week, especially the fact we'll be without Furlong. Finlay [Bealham] did really well last weekend, but Wales is not France. It's a massive challenge in the scrum, the tight, up front.
"I still think we'll get the job done, I think the team is a really hard team to break down, so I think we'll have too much quality around the pitch, but it will be a far, far tougher task than it was at the weekend."
Jackman echoed the opinion that while France will provide a far greater challenge than Wales, Andy Farrell's side will have enough to make it two wins from two this weekend.
"I also think were better. We're better than last year, and we ran them quite close last year without Sexton, away in Paris. We're just a little bit more detailed than them, but also have a nice balance of x-factor and players who can make things happen."
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Watch live coverage of Ireland v France (Saturday 2.15pm) on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player, follow our live blog on RTÉ.ie/Sport and the RTÉ News app, or listen to live commentary on RTÉ Radio 1.
Watch live coverage of England v Italy (Sunday, 3pm) on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player.
