French give lesson in art of winning

He knew that his team had been awesome, playing the 40 sweetest minutes of the entire tournament as they had buried Ireland with 27 unanswered points before half-time. Ireland coach Eddie O'Sullivan said: "We were battening down the hatches every two minutes only to have them ripped off again."

Yet it was Magne's suggestion that we'd seen nothing yet, that they were still aiming for perfection, which felt so ominous. This was the sort of stuff we'd been hearing from England for so long yet now, it was the French who were walking the walk.

It was Michalak, not Jonny Wilkinson, doing an impression of infallibility. It was the trio of Serge Betsen, Imanol Harinordoquy and Magne, not England's old guard, looking the best back row in the world. It was Fabien Galthie, in such control behind the scrum, turning the clock back so efficiently that Ireland's departing legend Keith Wood was not alone in hoping his pal would bow out lifting the trophy.

Even the All Blacks dismantling of South Africa couldn't persuade a former New Zealand master, Grant Fox, that his boys had surpassed this French lesson. "Forget the other teams - France are the ones to beat. If they play 80 minutes like that, they'll win the Cup," he said.

In these words, you could feel how the dynamics of the World Cup had changed. France had tried to tiptoe through unnoticed and had been largely successful, thanks to the big three's dramas. Yet now there is no escaping the plaudits and they are expected to dispatch a nervy England.

Perhaps this new pressure of favouritism could affect their equilibrium; perhaps it could work in England's favour by releasing them from the weight of expectation; perhaps France are so unpredictable that their silky smooth passage to the last four means they're due a shocker.

Or perhaps falling back on this fond stereotype is just wishful thinking. Because Laporte's team are breaking all the rules that are supposed to attach to Les Bleus. They've always had flair, power and speed but now there is precision and discipline which made them menacing.

Even the lapse in concentration under late Irish resistance and the sin-binning of Raphael Ibanez for persistent offending could not disguise how the final 43-21 scoreline was hardly a true reflection of French supremacy. "We won't slacken up next time," warned Magne.

The flanker sounds as if he believes they are now the best in the world. "If we concentrate for 80 minutes, play at 100 per cent, we can beat anybody," he said.

Magne looked at what Wales were doing on screen. "They're doing it right; speed in your game, attack from anywhere, do something unpredictable," he nodded. "That's how you beat England." This ring of confidence suggested he cannot wait to give a practical demonstration of his thesis on Sunday.