O'Sullivan praise Les Bleus for 'clarity of thought'

The Ireland coach, Eddie O'Sullivan, focused on the discipline that his French counterpart, Bernard Laporte, has instilled in his team as the key factor in a side he clearly believes is capable of winning the World Cup after their comprehensive quarter-final victory.

"I have been involved with playing France over many years and they have always had flair and power," he said. "But the strange thing is that at the moment there is a clarity of thought in this French side which is very menacing. "Their set-piece is rock solid and their defence is incredibly aggressive. Their discipline is superb and they have phenomenal speed and class."

Laporte said he was also pleased with his side's performance and added that for the first time he thought his side could win the tournament.

"We are here to win the World Cup," Laporte said. "We don't care who the opposition is going to be. We have the means to win and we will give it everything we have got."

The France lock Fabien Pelous said that his side had felt that their first-half performance had gone exactly as planned.

"We worked very hard on the set-pieces during the week and during the first part of the game we felt we were doing exactly what we had done in training."

However the flanker Olivier Magne, who scored one try and combined superbly in the loose forward trio of Imanol Harinordoquy and Serge Betsen, said his side had lost focus for the last quarter.

"When you are leading 30-0 in a World Cup quarter-final it is something beautiful and unfortunately we started to relax and enjoy it and you lose a bit of your concentration.

"I suppose it is unavoidable but for the semi-final we will do the maximum for 80 minutes or more."

"France can beat England, and I think England know it."