“I think this is the most fantastic rugby venue I’ve ever played at in my whole career,” Pelous said. “I’ve got 106 caps and I’ve played almost everywhere, but the Millennium Stadium is an almost mythical venue.
“I don’t know if we will be playing with the roof closed, but I hope so, because the atmosphere will be huge. Despite the bad memory of losing the 1999 Rugby World Cup final against Australia, I have a lot of very good memories of the Stadium.”
Pelous said he hoped to take advantage of Scott Johnson’s out-of-sorts Wales side, who could only draw with Italy at the Stadium last weekend.
“The way Wales play is very attractive, but in professional rugby, proficiency is more important. When you win playing that way, it is very entertaining, but they have some problems at the moment, mainly with injured players and a change of coach.”
Wales beat France with a thrilling come-from-behind performance in Paris last season, and Pelous is keen to bury memories of the match.
“We played a very good first half against Wales at the Stade de France, and we want to play as well as that again, only for two halves this time. They had no oxygen because they had so much defending to do, but we had ten very poor minutes early in the second half that cost us the game. We must try to starve them of oxygen again.”
France hooker Raphael Ibanez added: “Wales are the current Champions, so we have to show them a lot of respect. They’ve had a few problems through the year with injuries and the sudden change of their coach. I think that with the big crowd, it will be a fantastic match.”
