France v Ireland: Though basking in sunshine, well-heeled Parisians are wrapping themselves up in scarves, coats and gloves, and the Irish rugby fans sporting tricoloured wigs or replica jerseys stand out as incongruously as ever. Yet it is almost as if both sets of supporters are equally unsure what to expect from their teams and, just in case, are bracing themselves for the worst.
How to call this one? As much as ever, perhaps even more than normal, the opening exchanges could be critical.
Bearing in mind the jolt to France's confidence last week and the ensuing wielding of the guillotine, which is thus poised over everyone else, les Bleus might swing even more violently than normal from brilliance to brittleness.
Picture the scene. A crisp, cold yet sunny day in Paris. The majority of the 80,000 crowd having bellowed out La Marseillaise, tears rolling down the cheeks of the home players - not least the recalled former captains Raphael Ibanez and Olivier Magne. Were they to score a try in the opening 10 minutes or so, they could just as easily revert from the error-prone dunces of last week to world-beaters.
It could become one of those familiar, very long days in Paris. The bands strike up. L'équipe Française line up for the restart with that old familiar ruthless glint in their eye. Allez les Bleus, chant the crowd. Maybe a cockerel is released onto the sidelines. Uh-oh?
Alternatively, were Ireland to at least stick with France in the opening exchanges, or better still strike the first telling blow, one could well imagine home team and crowd alike becoming jittery. Stade de France can flip pretty much like les Bleus, raucously supportive or dolefully watchful, even turning against their own if errors creep into their game.
Eddie O'Sullivan admits that Ireland will "get the full monty" from France: "This game will define their championship."
Admitting that a good start would "make it easier for ourselves", he added, "There's a psychological aspect to it, but if that doesn't happen you can't just pack your tent and go home. You want to start well and get your hands on the ball, but sometimes you can't predict that, it depends on the flow of the ball. But it can't define the game for you."
France have turned to some of their older guard, but they have a patchwork look to them. Magne and Aurelien Rougerie look as if they are being pressed back into service a tad hurriedly; Frederic Michalak is clearly troubled by a groin problem and Christophe Dominici could be anything at fullback.
In any event, collectively France do not seem especially well equipped for a contest on the deck at the breakdown. Nor do they appear to have as good a kicking game as Ireland.
Indeed, you'd be more inclined to back Ronan O'Gara in a place-kicking duel than Jean-Baptiste Elissalde.
Outside Michalak, David Marty and Florian Fritz are pretty raw at this level, and for all France's renowned conveyor belt, Marty's performances for Perpignan don't suggest he can replicate Benoit Baby's man-of-the-match debut in Dublin last season.
Yet for Ireland to expose any or all of these and other potential flaws, they must take a leaf out of the Scottish defensive manual and push up more aggressively than they have been doing, for a repeat of last week's sliding, drifting defence and "soft" outside will be inviting France into a productive touchline-to-touchline style.
They'll also need to withstand what is likely to be a fearsome effort from the French scrum, while also imposing their own lineout and maul with a bit more zip and variation. They'll need more go-forward ball from the likes of David Wallace and Denis Leamy and not just the ever-willing Paul O'Connell, and must provide O'Gara with more offloading options to attack the inside shoulder, or more depth, to give Gordon D'Arcy and Brian O'Driscoll opportunities.
"I don't think you can just expect to be due a performance," said O'Driscoll yesterday. "You've got to go out and make it happen. There's an element of pressure on ourselves and hopefully that will bring the best out of us," he commented, adding that he saw this as "a big opportunity" for the team.
There remains a concern that Ireland's under-par displays are now part of a trend, aside from the absence of a bit more pace out wide, and leadership in the backrow, or more experienced impact potential on the bench.
Promoting Reggie Corrigan ahead of Simon Best as a specialist loosehead makes sense, but if the versatility of the starting backrowers can accommodate a specialist openside in Johnny O'Connor, wouldn't it be better to have a specialist number eight with the savvy of Anthony Foley?
Ireland have their "lucky" referee Paul Honiss, who has presided over seven Irish wins out of seven. However, he came under fire from the Welsh public and media alike after his performance in Twickenham last week, when labelled "Homer Honiss" by Jonathan Davies. Besides, there is the nagging thought this sequence has to change some day.
There's also the nagging suspicion that France will hardly plummet to the depths of last week, when making 26 turnovers, and that there will indeed be a backlash of sorts. They can't have become that bad a team, literally in one game, can they?
But either way, Ireland are overdue a big performance.
Referee: Paul Honiss (New Zealand).
Overall head-to-head: Played 77, France 45 wins, 5 draws, Ireland 27 wins.
Last five meetings: (2005) Ireland 19 France 26. (2004) France 35 Ireland 17. (2003) WC _ France 43 Ireland 21; Ireland 15 France 12. (2002) France 44 Ireland 5.
Odds (Paddy Powers): 1/7 France, 25/1 Draw, 4/1 Ireland. Handicap betting (= Ireland +13pts) 10/11 France, 25/1 Draw, 10/11 Ireland.
Forecast: France to win.
