Owens: Wales must maintain discipline against France
Wales hooker Ken Owens feels maintaining discipline in the face of any French provocation will be key to keeping their RBS 6 Nations title hopes alive.
France will head to Cardiff on Friday week with a 100 per cent record having beaten both Italy and Ireland in tight Paris encounters.
Wales are also on the title trail after backing up their 16-16 Dublin draw with Ireland by beating Scotland 27-23 at the Principality Stadium last weekend.
So the scene is set for a titanic tussle in Cardiff, and Owens says Wales are fully prepared for French physicality after Ireland trio Johnny Sexton, Jared Payne and Dave Kearney were left dazed and bruised in Paris.
"Perhaps that is how the French play," Owens said.
"They are very aggressive and they like to mix it physically, especially up front.
"When there are things like that off the ball you have just got to trust the officials.
"You have to go with your own game and keep your head focused on that.
"You have seen how close the majority of games have been in this championship so far.
"There has been a score in every game, apart from Italy and England, and discipline is huge.
"The team that tends to give away less penalties comes away with the victory.
"That has been a huge focus for us this campaign and going forward to the French game it will be exactly the same."