Peter Bills salutes a French performance of pace, power and invention against Ireland in The Independent.

"Be afraid, be very afraid. French rugby is stirring and a giant awakes. It was all very well for France's reinvigorated rugby team to hammer and humiliate the reigning Grand Slam champions Ireland, in Paris on Saturday. But to receive laudatory comments from that notoriously dissatisfied body of opinion known as the French media was another thing altogether. "Thus, we can imagine that French coach Marc Lièvremont (below) probably needed to sit down in a darkened room once he had digested the words of France's great newspapers following his team's 33-10 victory at Stade de France. "Combat Kings" L'Equipe hailed them. The magisterial Le Monde opined that: "France replied in masterly fashion to the question of what level they are at." And the rugby bible, Midi Olympique, added: "It was their aggression and breakdown work which were the most impressive aspects of the French performance."