France coach Philippe Saint-Andre believes that England are favourites for the Six Nations following their victory over New Zealand in November.
Preparation
France have less preparation time than any other side in the tournament, a fact that Saint-André bemoaned, highlighting the example of England's Elite Player Squad agreement.
"It's frustrating. We need to try to be as focused as possible in the few days that we have - but I think we have fantastic potential. We showed this in November, but for the Six Nations it is like running the 100 metres and starting ten metres behind everybody else," he added.
"Between the league, the Federation and the players - we need to look after our best 33/34 players like England do. Although Bernard Laporte said the same thing and so did Marc Lièvremont, so for the next coach after me perhaps everything will be in place.
"On Monday night we will try and pick the side that we feel are in the best shape physically and mentally. The problem for French rugby is consistency - winning four matches in November was a big achievement - but we start with a tough game against Italy.
"They are a good side and they were unlucky to lose against Australia in November."
With a squad packed full of young talent including Wesley Fofana, Brice Dulin, Jocelino Suta and more, captain Papé believes the new generation can be very successful.
"I hope that this new generation will do well," said Papé. "They have a lot of spirit and ambition and I'm happy to guide them in the right direction. There's not a lot of difference between the younger players and older guys - we all play our role and I'm not worried about them."
