KEY POINTS:
LONDON - France coach Bernard Laporte plans to use all his record 40-man squad for this year's Six Nations rugby championship as the final step to building a side able to win the World Cup for the first time.
France, badly bruised by two thumping home defeats by
New Zealand in November, kick the tournament off away to Italy on February 3 knowing that they are a still a long way from finding a settled team for the September/October World Cup, which they host.
Others are taking a different approach to the northern hemisphere's flagship event, with Wales coach Gareth Jenkins saying he would happily play the same team in every match if it meant his country could repeat their grand slam success of 2005. They won only one game last season.
England's new coach Brian Ashton is bidding to restore some pride and confidence in the world champions. England, who have lost eight of their last nine games, have finished fourth, fourth and third in the Six Nations since winning the World Cup in 2003 and start this year's tournament as 5-1 outsiders.
Laporte, who will stand down following the World Cup after eight years in charge, has long made it clear that his focus is on becoming world champions on home soil.
Their chances looked pretty slim after November's double home humiliation at the hands of the All Blacks but the coach remained upbeat at today's official Six Nations launch.
"We learned from those tests and I thought we showed a lot of spirit to rebound and beat an Argentina team who had beaten us four times previously," he said.
"We would like to defend our title but with the World Cup six months later.... there remain nine places up for grabs in the World Cup squad -- 21 are pretty much assured."
Of his plan to involve all Six Nations squad players, he said: "Forty players -- nobody has done it before. It won't be an easy thing to manage, obviously we will have clashes but it is a long term arrangement.
"In the Six Nations we need to get off to a good start in Italy and if we beat Ireland we'll win the tournament."
That clash on February 11, at Croke Park, is already looming as the key fixture, with the in-form and settled Irish side rated favourites to win the championship for the first time since 1985.
Ireland coach Eddie O'Sullivan was buoyed by a November that included victories over Australia and South Africa but said his team could not rest on their laurels.
"If we live off what we did in the autumn then we not going to go anywhere," he said.
O'Sullivan added that it was "hugely important" to have control of his players, who are spared club duty this weekend.
Wales have a similar arrangement and coach Gareth Jenkins is grateful.
"It is a very big factor," he said.
"The players arrived at camp on Monday bruised and battered and it is great to have a few days to concentrate on rest, recovery and rejuvenation."
England, on the other hand, have to hope that most of their squad come through a weekend of Premiership games in good condition.
Organisers said that for the first time the tournament would be watched by a live audience of one million.
The addition of Dublin's 80,000-capacity Croke Park, in place of Lansdowne Road, and the extended 82,000 capacity of Twickenham will lift the average attendance from 61,000 last season to around 67,000 in 2007.
- REUTERS
