The game with Les Bleus will take place at Oita Stadium – the venue where Wales faced Fiji in their Pool D clash earlier in the Japan tournament.
Warren Gatland’s side will have a full seven days to prepare for their last-eight clash with France.
“I think there will be 31 fit players this week. The boys came through Uruguay okay and we’re in good shape with a seven-day turnaround,” said Wales head of physical performance Paul Stridgeon.
Wales ended their pool stage campaign with a perfect record of four wins from four after successes over Georgia, Australia, Fiji and Uruguay. It means they ended Pool D on top to meet the runners-up of Pool C in the quarter-finals. The other quarter-final to take place in Oita will be England against Australia with New Zealand, Ireland, Japan and South Africa completing the knock-outs.
“Topping the pool was massive for us. That was a big goal coming into the competition,” Stridgeon added. “The last time a Welsh team won all four games was in 1987 (when they finished third) so it’s a fantastic achievement for this group and gives us a lot of confidence going into this quarter-final.
“That was what Warren was talking about in the two or three days leading up to Uruguay. It means nothing if we win two or three pool matches if we don’t win the fourth one.
“It was massive for us a squad.”
Wales will face a France side who won’t have played for two weeks by the time of Sunday’s quarter-final after their final pool clash with England was cancelled due to Typhoon Hagibis hitting Tokyo.
Stridgeon added: “You can look at that both ways. France have had a rest. Is that a good thing for them? They have missed a game as well. Are you game fit? Are you ready to go?
“It depends how they’ve structured their week last week.”
Stridgeon knows all about the strength and danger of French rugby after his previous stint working with the country’s TOP14 giants Toulon before he joined Wales.
“You always expect a lot of passion from France. I’ve got friends in that team from Toulon and they are some good guys,” Stridgeon added. “Obviously they are a very physical team and we know that. We know it’s going to be a very close game. A lot of times it’s a one-score game against France.
“I think the French team are in good shape. They look better and a lot of them are a lot leaner.”
When Wales and France last met in the 2019 Six Nations opener in Paris, the hosts got off to a flying start to lead 16-0 at half time before Wales launched a stunning comeback.
That win at the Stade de France laid the platform for a Welsh Grand Slam and Triple Crown, but Stridgeon also knows it shows how dangerous Sunday’s opposition can be.
“People always think if you have won in the last 20 minutes it means you are fitter than the opposition,” Stridgeon said. “We got a really terrible start in that game. It was a perfect game of two halves.
“We had a different approach in the second half, but we can only worry about our boys and what shape we are in.
“We always think we’ve got boys in decent shape. We work on repeatability and being able to do things at maximum intensity. Hopefully that pays off in the last 20 minutes of games.”
