France coach Marc Lievremont warned on Monday that he would not be underestimating the threat posed by England to their dream of completing the Six Nations Grand Slam next weekend.
Lievremont named an unchanged squad for Saturday's clash against England at the Stade de France, as the French bid to seal the Grand Slam for the ninth time and reclaim the title they last won in 2007.
The France coach remembers only too well their 34-10 loss to England in Twickenham in last year's tournament, admitting it was "by far the most painful that we suffered in the last two years".
"We're going to judge them (England) on their real potential, not what they showed during the tournament," said Lievremont.
"They're a team who are certainly hurt, criticised. But their athletic ability is enormous with an exceptional attack. They are particularly well organised and with (Jonny) Wilkinson... We're going to approach this match as if it were Wilkinson at his best who is going to play at the Stade de France."
Apart from two warm-up matches for the 2007 World Cup, England have not lost to France since the 2006 Six Nations.
The French are within one match of claiming their first Grand Slam since 2004 and will stick with the squad that beat Italy 46-20 in Paris last weekend, and Wales 26-20 in Cardiff on February 26.
"Even if it's obvious that it will be more complicated against England than against our Italian friends we think that this France team has what it takes to beat England on Saturday night," said Lievremont.
"They were efficient in Cardiff firstly and at the Stade de France yesterday (against Italy). It's true that we had indicated that we were looking at changes or the possibility of changes.
"It was to have all our cards in hand in order to be more competitive against England. It was also to warn the players that nothing could be taken for granted, to put on some pressure indirectly before the Italy match.
"The outcome of yesterday's match (against Italy), the comfort of the game in its continuity and coaching, an extremely positive outcome in terms of injuries, allowed us to go in this direction."
France are the only team capable of landing the Grand Slam after beating Scotland 18-9 and Ireland 33-10 in their first two matches.
Their only title challengers are champions Ireland who are two points behind going into their final game against Scotland in Dublin on Saturday.
England are already out of the running after the 15-15 draw in Scotland on Saturday and have not won the tournament since 2003.
France's final 15-man line-up will be revealed on Tuesday.
France squad for England game:
Forwards (13): Nicolas Mas, Thomas Domingo, Jean-Baptiste Poux, Clement Baiocco), William Servat, Dimitri Szarzewski, Lionel Nallet, Julien Pierre, Sebastien Chabal, Thierry Dusautoir (capt), Julien Bonnaire, Alexandre Lapandry, Imanol Harinordoquy
Backs (10): Morgan Parra, Francois Trinh-Duc, Dimitri Yachvili, Yannick Jauzion, Mathieu Bastareaud, David Marty, Julien Malzieu, Alexis Palisson, Clement Poitrenaud, Marc Andreu
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