Six Nations Grand Slam holders Ireland head for what is arguably their toughest test in their bid to become only the sixth team to record back-to-back Slams when they play France in Paris next Saturday.

To add extra spice to what is seen as a potential title decider - though England might beg to differ - the match will be the first meeting between the two countries since French football captain Thierry Henry's infamous handball in the World Cup play-off last November which arguably cost the Irish their place in South Africa this June.

Elsewhere England - who beat Wales 30-17 at Twickenham - should keep up the pressure on whoever wins in Paris with victory over Italy in Rome, the Italians fortunate to escape with just a 29-11 defeat in Dublin against the Irish.

Wales - who conceded 17 points when they were reduced to 14 players after Alun Wyn-Jones was sin-binned for a schoolboy trip - will look to bounce back at home to Scotland, who were far from disgraced in their 18-9 defeat by the French.

Most eyes, though, will be focussed on the Stade de France as the French attempt to stay on course for their first ever Six Nations title and indeed Grand Slam under coach Marc Lievremont.

They will also be hoping to stop Ireland from becoming the first team to win back to back Grand Slams since they achieved it in 1997/98 when it was the old Five Nations prior to Italy joining Europe's top rugby tournament in 2000.

The French put in one of their more fluent and impressive performances since Lievremont took over after the 2007 World Cup against the Scots and the Irish defence will have to be at its best to stop the as always exciting backline - especially the fearsome musclebound centre Mathieu Bastareaud.

However, Lievremont - whose main injury worry is wing Aurelien Rougerie - admits there is still work to be done if they are to step up a level against an Irish side that are unbeaten in their last 11 matches.

"If the odd pass had gone to hand we could have scored one or two more tries," admitted the 41-year-old former backrow forward, who has used over 70 different players since he replaced Bernard Laporte.

"It gives us something to work on ahead of the Ireland match although we only have a six-day turnaround so the main thing will be to make sure we recover."

We need to improve

The Irish are probably delighted they have had an extra day to prepare for the French as their second-half display against the Italians left a lot to be desired as was reflected by captain Brian O'Driscoll's assessment of what they needed to do to have a chance of beating the French.

"Our ability to create fast ruck ball is the winning and losing of games against sides like France. We need to work on that," said the 31-year-old.

Ireland coach Declan Kidney as usual was succinct and to the point about what his side needed to do.

"We have to improve in every area of the pitch," said the IRB coach of the year. Wyn-Jones will be hoping he never wakes up to headlines of the like that greeted him on Sunday as he all but single handedly took the blame for the defeat to England owing to his trip in the first-half on Dylan Hartley.

'Sin-Jones' and 'Wince-Jones' were but two of the unwanted nicknames handed to the 24-year-old law student and he will do well to be able to redeem himself against the Scots as Wales coach Warren Gatland hinted strongly he would be dropped.

Gatland himself is confident that his side will respond positively to the defeat, just as they did in the second-half against the English.

"I am really proud of the performance in terms of the character we showed, and I think you will see a really positive reaction," said the former Ireland and Wasps coach.

Scotland coach Andy Robinson realised that for all the impressive inroads they made into the French half their failure to come away with tries could cost them dearly against Wales.

"We have to take the opportunities when we get them and not concede as we did," said Robinson.

"It is a six-day turnaround to the Wales game now and we need to improve the way we defend.

"We are going to be playing a Welsh side that will be disappointed with their loss (against England) but encouraged by a number of aspects of their game. They did ask the English defence some real questions."