Wales fell to defeat to Ireland in Dublin a fortnight ago and face a France side who have beaten England and Italy respectively. But the former Scarlets coach is hopeful a sell-out crowd in Cardiff can get his side over the line.
“If you look at the fixtures in the last few years, they’ve been close affairs,” said Pivac.
“I don’t think this week will be any different. They’ve started very well in this competition with a great win over England and backed it up with a five pointer against Italy.
“They come full of confidence. We’ve had two weeks to prepare for this game. It’s been about us wanting to get back out there, right some of the wrongs from the Ireland game.
“We know we’ve got a better performance in us. We’re very pleased to be back at home, with a sell-out crowd, and we’re looking forward to the challenge.”
Pivac has made two changes to the side which lost in Ireland with powerful blindside Ross Moriarty replacing Aaron Wainwright and the experienced Gareth Davies given the nod over Tomos Williams at scrum-half.
Outside-half Dan Biggar and prolific try scorer Josh Adams have been passed fit after suffering injuries a fortnight ago with a globally-renowned concussion expert having been drafted into the Welsh set-up to give Northampton Saints playmaker Biggar the green light to play.
And Pivac believes Wales’ experience could prove decisive with the hosts fielding the most experienced starting XV in Five or Six Nations history on 859 caps, beating the previous record of 822 set by Italy against Scotland in 2012.
He said: “Hopefully [that experience] will mean a lot this weekend.
“If we can start well, which is something we’re trying to achieve in both halves, we’ve been a bit slow out of the blocks, then that experience will hopefully come through for us and will test some of the inexperienced players in their side.”
