France captain Fabien Pelous insists England are still the team to beat even though France are the only side still in contention for the RBS 6 Nations Grand Slam.
The French emerged as title favourites following an eventful weekend that saw Ireland beat England and the French secure a 29-22 victory over Wales at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff.
France will be expected to make it four wins out of four against Scotland in Edinburgh on Sunday before facing England in Paris.
But Pelous knows England will still be a major threat to France's title ambitions despite Sir Clive Woodward's men losing their proud unbeaten record against Ireland at Twickenham.
"Our target was to win our first four games to keep ourselves in contention for when we played England," said Pelous following the hard-fought victory over the Welsh.
"We are still on target and in some ways it does not matter about England's result against Ireland. It will make little difference when we play them.
"What the result showed is that rugby is a beautiful game. It proves that you can say anything and look at all the scenarios before a game, you just cannot tell what the result is going to be on the day.
"Ireland put in all their effort against England. They played with talent, desire and a will to succeed and it got them the result.
"But we have to put the result into perspective. If we forget about our victory over England in Marseille when it was not their first team then England have not lost for a very long time.
"They are still a great side, they are still the best team in the world and it is going to be very difficult for us. We will have to be at our best."
French hopes will be boosted if scrum-half Jean-Baptiste Elissalde recovers from the muscle tear which saw him hobble off in the dying minutes against Wales after he had contributed a match-winning 24 points.
"I am really in pain. It felt like my thigh muscles were exploding," Elissalde said.
"I scored 24 points but that is my job as goal-kicker. Maybe this game will be remembered because of my 24 points and my try but I know I made mistakes."
The 26-year-old, who looks a reliable long-term replacement for retired skipper Fabien Galthie, kicked 19 points and raced clear from 40 metres for the crucial second try and also formed a potentially devastating half-back combination with Frederic Michalak.
"Elissalde had a very good game, especially against the opposition's number eight, and ran the scrum much better in the second half, in particular for the try. He kicked well too," coach Bernard Laporte said.
"Fredi and Jean-Baptiste played very well. They lack experience, but they are such talented players and after playing more games they will be very, very good players."