MAKO Vunipola does not believe England's chances of over-powering the French have been lifted by their rivals' recent disciplinary problems.
And the experienced prop is preparing himself for another ferocious front row no matter who Les Bleus pick in their reshuffled pack for Twickenham.
Both first choice props Uini Antonio and Mohamed Haouas are sitting out the rest of the Six Nations after being banned for illegal tackles but, as far as Lions star Vunipola is concerned, the French threat up front remains crystal clear.
He says: “I'm not sure about the Haouas incident against Scotland but I thought the Antonio one was a great hit and had he lowered himself just a bit it would have been ok. He was unfortunate to get a ban. In terms of discipline I think they are pretty good. France have been one of the best teams in that area for some time now. So I don't see it as something that will affect them.
“Whoever they bring in to replace the suspended guys we know they will do a job. They have good strength in depth in the front row. We also know as a forward pack facing the French will be another step up for us.
“It will be a real physical battle coming our way and we need to ensure we come out on top.
“We have to learn from any mistakes we made against the Welsh and get our structures in place in training so that we start the game well. In training we've done around 18 scrums and not so many line-outs. There were things that didn't go to plan in the scrum so we need to fix those.”
None of the England side which takes the field to face the French has ever lost to them at Twickenham but Vunipola insists: “That stat goes out the window because what happened in the past will have no bearing on this game. It's a different France team from two years ago and a clean slate for both sides.
“We know we're now facing two teams ranked the best in the world right now and both will be huge challenges. Having them back to back will be a good test of where we are as a team.”
