Rob Howley’s men bounced back to top form with a stunning 22-9 triumph over Ireland at Principality Stadium last weekend. They have the chance to back up their round four victory by claiming a sixth successive triumph over France on Saturday. And Warburton believes a free-flowing game could help topple the French giants.
He said: “We play France every season so we are very used to playing them as they are playing against us. You know what France are like, they are probably going to want to look to their driving game. They’ve some fantastic ball carriers, not just in the pack but in their backline as well.
“I think one thing that helped us on the weekend was that the ball was in play 46, 47 minutes and, more often than not, when the ball is in play that amount of time we tend to win more matches than we lose. So that will be a target for us, to try to keep the ball on the park and back our fitness levels.
“All season the guys are working hard to keep those fitness levels at the top level and when you’re playing against all international teams that is a massive must. So ball on the park could be important for us.”
Wales are out to make it three wins in-a-row at Stade de France when they take-on Les Bleus on Saturday. But Warburton reckons his side will have to improve on their Irish triumph if they are to overcome the French challenge.
He said: “Home advantage has a massive part to play in this championship because the teams are so close together that home advantage is another to take you over the finish line. So we know that if we are to win in Paris we will have to produce our best performance.
“We are pleased with the way we played against Ireland but there weren’t a lot of pats on the back. Because there were a lot of times when, in the second half, we made errors where we shouldn’t have, and we could have lost that game. So we’ve still got a bit of an edge about us, because we want to put those things right and put in a better performance against France.”
