France captain Fabien Pelous is determined to lift the gloom hanging over his team after their shock defeat in Scotland. "On Sunday evening, it was difficult, very difficult but I pulled out of it," he told journalists at the team's training camp in Marcoussis, south of Paris, yesterday.

"I think there is a general feeling of 'catastrophism' around us and maybe among us. It's irritating, but I'm not distraught," he added as they prepare to meet Ireland at the Stade de France on Saturday.

"We have lost a rugby game, okay. So what? It's not the end of the world. We still have four games to play and if we win them all, we'll win the championship."

Pelous said his team, pre-tournament favourites, were the main culprits of Sunday's 20-16 defeat at Murrayfield. "Of course the Scots had a great game . . . but we just didn't play well enough. We were average or below par in all sectors of the game."

Pelous said the main task was to find out why the team had failed at Murrayfield and how they could recover and redeem themselves. Coach Bernard Laporte's first answer was to increase his squad from 22 to 29 players.

On Sunday, he recalled six experienced players, hooker and former captain Raphael Ibanez, lock Pascal Pape, flankers Serge Betsen and Olivier Magne, centre Damien Traille and winger Aurelien Rougerie. On Monday, Perpignan centre David Marty also joined the squad.

The 31-year-old Betsen, who has 48 caps, said he had recovered from the cheekbone fracture he suffered in a French championship match in October.

"I hope that players like myself, Ibanez or Magne can help our youngest team-mates to recover from the disappointment of Edinburgh. We haven't been commissioned but our doors are open if they want to talk about it."

Team manager Jo Maso has defended the decision to call up so many players. "We are working for the France v Ireland match obviously but the reason why we called up more players than planned is because of the prospect of having an enlarged squad for the World Cup," he said. "Before the start of the tournament England called up a 36-man squad and worked with them all before reducing the team ahead of their match with Wales."

Laporte would have liked a similar-sized party, adding: "We have 28 players but if I could have had 35 I would have felt happier."