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Marcoussis - France manager Philippe Saint-Andre kept faith in the team who beat Fiji when he named his starting line-up for Saturday's clash against Australia at the Stade de France.
"All the players who started (against Fiji) are at 100 percent and we wanted to go further with this team," Saint-Andre told a news conference at France's training camp on Thursday.
France beat Fiji 40-15 in the first of three November Tests last Saturday, boosting their confidence ahead of the game against the Wallabies, a side who racked up 95 points in three wins over the French in June.
"We will have to raise our level against one of the top nations in the world," Saint-Andre added. "We will need to play more smoothly than against Fiji, and to be more accurate."
Saint-Andre knows that lapses in concentration must be banished if Les Bleus are to "boost (their) confidence ahead of the World Cup" with a win against Australia.
"Defensively, we must be more thorough during 80 minutes. Against Fiji, we missed too many tackles," the former France international said.
"We will also need to reposition ourselves more quickly(after losing the ball)."
France, however, must also be ready to "give more offensively" against a team "who score a lot of points but also concede a lot", according to Saint-Andre.
Australia beat Wales 33-28 at the Millennium Stadium last Saturday.
Should things get tight, Saint-Andre, who despite regularly tinkering with his halfback pairings retained Sebastien Tillous-Bordes and Camille Lopez, is banking on his flyhalf to kick France to victory.
"I think we will need a kicking percentage of about 80 percent," Saint-Andre added.
France will also face Argentina at the Stade de France on November 22.
Teams:
France
15-Scott Spedding, 14-Yoann Huget, 13-Alexandre Dumoulin, 12-Wesley Fofana, 11-Teddy Thomas, 10-Camille Lopez, 9-Sebastien Tillous-Borde, 8-Damien Chouly, 7-Bernard Le Roux, 6-Thierry Dusautoir (captain), 5-Yoann Maestri, 4-Pascal Pape, 3-Nicolas Mas, 2-Guilhem Guirado, 1-Alexandre Menini
Eight replacements to be chosen from the following 12 players:
Benjamin Kayser, Uini Atonio, Xavier Chiocci, Alexandre Flanquart, Sebastien Vahaamahina, Yannick Nyanga, Charles Ollivon, Rory Kockott, Remi Tales, Mathieu Bastareaud, Maxime Mermoz, Maxime Medard
Australia
1 Israel Folau, 14 Adam Ashley-Cooper, 13 Tevita Kuridrani, 12 Christian Lealiifano, 11 Joe Tomane, 10 Bernard Foley, 9 Nick Phipps, 8 Ben McCalman, 7 Michael Hooper (captain), 6 Sean McMahon, 5 Rob Simmons, 4 James Horwill, 3 Sekope Kepu, 2 Saia Faingaa, 1 James Slipper
Substitutes: To be announced
