France captain Thierry Dusautoir believes that les Bleus can use their lengthy and intensive preparations to build a side capable of winning the World Cup in New Zealand later this year.

"This is the goal. We are going there to get stuck into this competition, not to go sight-seeing," Dusautoir told a press conference at the national team's training complex in Marcoussis.

"If we give the best of ourselves from beginning to end, we can seriously think about that title of world champion."

Dusautoir, whose try in the quarter-final four years ago in Cardiff helped knock out the All Blacks, also admitted that a World Cup in rugby-obsessed New Zealand would be a little bit special.

"To play a World Cup is in itself a special event for any rugby player, this is no small matter. We have worked for four years to play this competition," he said.

"But it's true that there is something a little bit extra special about playing it in New Zealand; it is the most legendary team in the world. Anyone who can turn up and win in New Zealand will truly go down in history.

"For France, it would make a double. We beat New Zealand two years ago. This means that it is possible and that we can do it. When you start the competition, you have to remember that."

The French began their preparations last week.

Among the 33-man preliminary squad are a number of players who are still injured or who have not fully recovered from an attritional season that only ended for Dusautoir in early June, when his Toulouse side won the Top 14 final against Montpellier.

But he insisted that the training in the heat of the French summer was progressing smoothly.

"It's very demanding but it is going very well," he said. "There is always enthusiasm and desire to go training, which is the most important thing.

"The fitness trainers have been able to find different exercises that allow us, even in pain, to stay interested."

But the captain also believes that the closeness of the team over the coming months will help to create a unit that is capable of landing the Webb Ellis Trophy.

"We will have the opportunity to stay together for two months of preparation and two months of competition.

"You can work physically, technically and tactically, it's good. It is now a team in the most important sense of the word.

"We get to know each other, the defects, the qualities, the soft spots. It is very important in the human sense. This time together allows us to do that.

"We have a very demanding preparation. It allows you to invest 100 percent when we are given tough sessions. It is a set-up designed to ensure we are at our best during the World Cup."

France are in Pool A alongside New Zealand, Canada, Fiji and Japan, against whom they begin their campaign on September 10.

AFP