France-based former Munster back row James Coughlan has warned Ireland that Les Bleus are coming to Dublin on Sunday fully expecting to end their ten-year wait for a win on Irish soil.
Their 2011 victory at the Aviva Stadium, thanks in large part to the trusty boot of Morgan Parra, was followed by a draw in 2013 and then Irish triumphs in 2015, 2017 and 2019.
Now however, Fabien Galthie's side travel more in expectation than hope.
France hammered Italy 50-10 in Rome last weekend to warm them up nicely, and Brive defence coach Coughlan expects them to kick on again.
"The French are really confident coming into it," he told RTÉ Sport.
"[There's a feeling] that now is the time when they are going to break that ten-year absence of not winning in Dublin and if it's not now they'll never win.
"They're aware that Ireland have the injuries, are missing James Ryan, and are heavily reliant on Tadhg Beirne and CJ Stander to do a lot of ball carrying. I think [defence coach] Shaun Edwards specifically will be targeting the two lads.
"Seeing the quality of the Italians is putting everything in perspective a bit. They were expected to win, they were expected to win handily, as they did. The last 18 months, the quality that they've shown, they are favourites at the moment."
On Wednesday neurosurgeon Dr Jean-Francois Chermann apologised to Johnny Sexton after publicly claiming the Ireland captain had suffered "around 30 concussions" throughout his career.
He made the claim to French radio station RMC in the wake of Sexton being replaced during Ireland's Six Nations defeat to Wales in Cardiff.
In 2014 Dr Chermann recommended Sexton take a 12-week breaking from playing while he was at Racing Metro. Sexton misses Sunday's game after failing to recover from a head knock.
"There's been huge amounts of chat [in France] about Johnny," added Coughlan.
"It's a strange one because normally doctors won't speak about patients. It took me by surprise to have somebody say what he said.
"I don't think the Irish medical staff will pay any heed to what was said. I don't think Johnny has paid any heed to what was said. It's just an opinion at the end of it."
Looking ahead to the match itself, Coughlan said: "I think France are probably a bit further down the line than maybe Ireland are with regards to preparation for the World Cup - and that's how they're looking at this.
"They're not looking at it in terms of winning another Six Nations; they're looking at preparation for a World Cup in a couple of years' time, especially considering they'll be playing it at home.
"You'd have to back France to do the business with the quality of players that they have."
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