France captain Lionel Nallet insists his side must get off to a winning start if they are to lift the RBS Six Nations title.
France captain targets repeat of 2007 success
France captain Lionel Nallet insists his side must get off to a winning start if they are to lift the RBS Six Nations title.
The French travel to Croke Park on Saturday to tackle Dublin, having won at the ground in 2007 to ultimately clinch the championship at the expense of Ireland.
And the 42-time capped Nallet believes a repeat of that 20-17 victory is crucial to French hopes.
"It is absolutely vital we begin the Six Nations with a win," said Nallet.
"Obviously not at any cost, as we must focus on playing a tidy clean match and managing it in a good fashion.
Risky
"However we are all committed to winning the tournament and while it is risky to say such things, it is very much the wish of the players and the coaching staff."
The Castres lock believes the battle against Paul O'Connell and the Irish lineout could decide the outcome of the crunch tie.
"It will be interesting to confront one of the best lineouts in the world," conceded Nallet.
"They are a group of players whom have been playing together for years both at province and international level and know each others game off by heart.
"They are very neat and very tidy at the lineout and are still capable of improving on that."
