France coach Philippe Saint-Andre has admitted that his players must improve if they want to beat Ireland in the Six Nations on Saturday.

Les Bleus got their campaign off to a winning start last weekend with an unconvincing victory at home to Scotland.

Saint-Andre believes that his side must better their performance against the Scots if they want to overcome the defending champions in Dublin.

"It is important for us to win an away match against a major team, but to do that we have to be more effective than we were against Scotland," he is quoted as saying by the tournament's official website.

"Ireland are an extremely disciplined side. They usually give away only around eight penalties whereas the Scots give up 13 or 14.

"They have won eight in a row and are the favourites for the title. We have to compete with them in every area, duels in the air where they are very strong, tackle hard and not give an inch."

France were beaten 20-22 by Ireland in Paris during last year's Six Nations.