Playing at a home World Cup can be a great advantage with the backing of a nation acting as a 16th man, carrying their team to victory.
The All Blacks experienced it in 1987 and 2011, South Africa famously in 1995 and even Japan four years ago stole the hearts of many and surpassed people’s expectations.
However, we have also seen the amount of pressure it can put on a team and its players, with the best example being England crashing out of their own World Cup in the pool stages in 2015.
For France, the scrutiny is added to by the fact they are one of the favourites for the upcoming World Cup after winning 18 of their last 20 Tests and they are also unbeaten on home soil since March 2021 when they lost to Scotland.
Since the last World Cup, Les Bleus have dazzled fans with French flair, with standout victories coming against England at Twickenham in this year's Six Nations - where they put 50 points on Steve Borthwick's side with the brilliance of Antoine Dupont a sight to behold.
Going further back, their win over New Zealand in 2021 - when we saw Romain Ntamack’s great escape - was one of the finest examples of running rugby seen in recent history.
But their electric displays are all backed up by a brutish defence that has come from the appointment of Shaun Edwards, while the extreme physicality shown by the likes of Uini Atonio, Paul Willemse and Gregory Alldritt is devastating. The remarkable recovery of Anthony Jelonch is also a boost for France heading into the showpiece event.
But despite all of the positives for Fabien Galthié's side, a spanner has been thrown into the works ahead of the World Cup with injuries to crucial players.
Whilst many teams have suffered setbacks (none more so than England it seems!) France losing Cyril Baille and Ntamack is a huge blow.
Ntamack’s partnership with club teammate Dupont has been a key part of France's recent success, with their near-telepathic relationship causing so many problems for sides. Then Baille - who remains in the World Cup squad - could be a huge miss as he is one of the best looseheads in world rugby, and it is an area where the French don’t have as much depth.
But bringing it back to the absence of Ntamack, Matthieu Jalibert is a very able replacement and he will look to show his qualities again on Sunday against Australia after La Rochelle's Antoine Hastoy had the No.10 jersey last week vs Fiji.
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Despite their injuries, Galthié clearly isn’t worried about wrapping his players up in cotton wool in their last game before the World Cup as they name a full-strength side for this weekend.
They come up against Eddie Jones' Wallabies, who are still searching for their first victory under the ex-England and Japan coach, but Australia have proven to be a difficult opponent for Les Bleus in recent Tests, with the last four encounters between the two sides being decided by a singular score.
Sunday feels like a great chance for France to become fully battle-hardened before their extremely challenging World Cup opener against the All Blacks on September 8th.
If there is ever a game that will see if the pressure of being the home nation will affect a side, facing the three-time winners and arguably the in-form team coming into the tournament feels like the best gauge.
If Les Bleus win that opening game, I believe it could almost be inevitable that we see the World Cup in French hands on October 28th.
