France coach Bernard Laporte sounded an ominous warning as he insisted Les Bleus were on track to lift their first World Cup. France were in devastating form as they trounced Ireland 43-21 in the quarter-final in Melbourne, running in four tries.
Ireland clawed back some self-esteem with three late tries but France, who led 27-0 at half time, already had one eye on their semi-final with England.
Laporte said: "We are here to win the World Cup. We don't care who the opposition is going to be.
"We have the means to win and we will give it all we've got."
France lock Fabien Pelous admitted that the impressive first half was a culmination of their scrupulous preparation.
"We played the game the way we expected," said Pelous.
"We worked hard during the week and we knew how to go about it.
"We felt that we were going through the moves we rehearsed all week, so it all worked."
And French captain Fabien Galthie agreed, saying: "This game was more difficult than the game against Scotland.
"The end result is that when you prepare well you get a good result."
MMIX
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England heroes profiled