Castaignede says France are on a mission this year

"We must win in Wales - we want to win the Six Nations," said Castaignede.

"Wales are a strange team, they are able to beat Australia and almost lose to Fiji. They are not consistent but they are able to play quality rugby.

"They have good players, it will be a difficult game and if we want to beat them we will have to be at our best."

France have pushed backed their team announcement until Wednesday to give players an extra day to prove their fitness.

There is a lot of pressure on us to win this competition and Wales have nothing to lose Olivier Magne

Several unnamed squad members were suffering from illness before the England match and the selectors are keen to give them time to make the team.

Les Bleus are tied with Ireland after three wins from four matches but lead the Championship table with a positive points difference of 58.

Beleaguered Wales need to win to avoid a potential Wooden Spoon, and their players have said that with the pressure off they will be ready to perform.

France have been models of inconsistency in the tournament so far, but their experienced stars all insist that their minds will be on the job at the Millennium Stadium.

"There is a lot of pressure on us to win this competition and Wales have nothing to lose," said flanker Olivier Magne.

The biggest mistake would be to think the tournament is over now Raphael Ibanez

"We know the tournament is not over. We want to win and we can do it, but we have to play well."

Veteran hooker Raphael Ibanez, whose international career has been revitalised this season, added:

"The biggest mistake would be to think the tournament is over now.

"This is exactly what we insisted in the changing room straight after the England game.

"The message was 'well done guys, we beat England at home, but we have one more game and we need to be focused on it'."