WALES centre Iestyn Harris today warned Sunday's Test against France would be brutal and predicted Les Bleus would go all out to bully the Dragons.

The former Rugby League star predicted Wales would be physically tested early on and said how they stood up to the onslaught would determine the outcome.

"I think France will be extremely brutal in the first ten or 15 minutes," said the player linked with a move back North once his current contract with Cardiff expires.

"I think they are going to come out and really try to bully us about and we have to stand up to that, match that and even better that.

"If we can do that in the first ten or 15 minutes it will say a lot about what's going to happen in the game. "We have to be really aggressive in the way we go into the game, and later on I think the gaps will start to appear because of all the aggression.

"So there should be some good open play in the second half."

Harris says France will provide another severe test of a defence found wanting against Ireland, but believes Wales will put their Lansdowne Road performance behind them.

"France are coming off two victories out of two so are going to be full of confidence, but if we play the way we can we can match them," he continued.

"France were impressive in parts against Ireland and a little bit scrappy against Italy, but even in the Italian game you could still see that when they throw the ball wide they are very, very dangerous.

"So we have to make sure we are on the ball in defence and do the best we can in attack.

"Traille and Jauzion are two quality centres. They are very pacy and me and Mark Taylor are going to have to be on our toes in defence."

He added: "The talk about a France Grand Slam showdown with England on March 27 suits us down to the ground.

"If they are talking about the Grand Slam maybe they'll overlook us a little bit and play into out hands.

"It's going to be a good test because we let ourselves down against Ireland and it's another chance to really show how far we have come since the World Cup.

"It's a long road to where we want to be and we're working hard to get there.

"It's not going to be smooth sailing all the way and Ireland was just a little hiccup and we'll put that aside now and really try to move forward.

"We've got confidence as a group. We've been through losses and bad times before and that's stood us in good stead and hopefully after Ireland we can move forward.

"The next two games (world champions England follow France) are important for us as a nation to progress on the international stage.

"Going in against the world champions will be extremely difficult. But if we beat France we'll be full of confidence and excited about the prospect.

"So it's a massive thing to try to get a really good performance in against France.

"We've got to set the platform early and stamp our authority on the game to give the backs the chance to express themselves."