A Welsh fan gets in the spirit of things © Getty Images

France could build a very nice team with all the players that have missed one of the first two games in this year's Six Nations Championship through injury:

Benjamin Fall, Aurélien Rougerie, Damien Traille, Maxime Mermoz, Vincent Clerc, Jean-Baptiste Ellisalde, Fabien Barcella, Sylvain Marconnet, Luc Ducalcon, Sébastien Chabal, Romain Millo-Chlusky and Fulgence Ouedraogo.

If you add banned scrum-half Julien Dupuy, you would only need two back row players to have a complete line-up! Let's just hope that the likes of Thierry Dusautoir, Imanol Harinordoquy and Julien Bonnaire don't join that injury list after Friday night's game in Cardiff.

Wales find themselves in exactly the same position with players such as Gethin Jenkins, Alun-Wyn Jones, Gareth Williams and Mike Phillips missing because of injuries. And Warren Gatland is also without Andy Powell after his post-match antics saw him dropped from the squad. But even with so many important players missing, the Welsh still pose a formidable threat - for two main reasons.

Firstly, because Wales, like France, are a side that can conjure a great performances just when you don't expect it. The other reason is that Wales enter the game in desperate need of a morale-boosting victory following a defeat to England and another poor display against Scotland that was rescued in the final few minutes.

And this game could be a good time to meet the French with the record books illustrating the fact that the Les Bleus have failed to win three games in arow since Marc Lievrement took the coaching reins in 2008. In fact, this weekend represents the sixth time that France have been in that position - England and Australia in 2008, England and New Zealand (twice) in 2009 are the ones who put an end to the previous 'runs'.

What is also very worrying is that the French newspapers are already talking about Grand Slams. And France never play as badly as they do when the weight of expectation, from fans and the press, is at its highest.

It will no doubt be a very interesting game, because it will mean that either France stay on course for the Grand Slam (with two home games to follow) or the age-old question about their consistency will arise again.

Jean Palfrey