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Ireland coach Eddie O'Sullivan believes France have been strengthened by Bernard Laporte's tinkering for Sunday's RBS 6 Nations showdown at Croke Park.
France dismantled Italy - fancied by some to ambush Les Bleus in Rome - 39-3 in the opening match of the championship but boss Bernard Laporte has reacted by replacing a third of the team.
David Marty, Vincent Clerc, Sylvain Marconnet, Pascal Pape and Imanol Harinordoquy have all been promoted to the starting line-up as Laporte continues to experiment with this year's World Cup in mind.
But O'Sullivan believes France will benefit from the new arrivals and knows Ireland must hit top gear if they are topple last season's Six Nations winners.
'The French can change their team a lot and it doesn't really matter. They replace similar players with similar players," he said.
'Bernard Laporte has stated that he sees the Six Nations as an opportunity to develop his squad for the World Cup and he's stuck to his guns on that.
'He's made five changes but I don't see the team being terribly weakened by that - if anything it's been strengthened.
'It's a strong French team. They're going to cause us problems, like they always do, and it's up to us to deal with them.'
O'Sullivan insists Ireland must learn the lessons of Italy's failure to finish their chances early at the Stadio Flaminio last Saturday.
'I thought Italy started well and played some very good rugby and put France under a lot of pressure,' he said.
'But, when you put France under pressure, you have to capitalise. Italy missed two kicks on goal and a try-scoring opportunity and then gave up a very soft try.
'Psychologically, that was a massive blow for them. And then, when France found their rhythm, they were able to keep the ball in hand and played very well.
'Italy's heads dropped a little bit and it was an easy day for France in the end. They'll take a lot of confidence out of the game.'
