England must know their enemy amongst the French... and one of them's from Yorkshire

Then, and only then, France's defence coach might just decide 'if you can beat them, join them anyway'.

Is Chabal (centre) modelling hair straighteners? Michalak's (top left) impression of a wall-mounted bottle opener (top left) leaves a lot to be desired. And sorry, Nyanga's (top right) overdosed on gel

After eight years on the French side of the Channel, the Yorkshireman could soon be available for employment at Twickenham, should the RFU consider turning to a man who has given them numerous headaches.

Having spent so long reinforcing the thin bleu line with all of his expertise - acquired from rugby league - and knowledge - acquired from Aussie rules, Gaelic football, American football, basketball and even handball - he could find himself looking for work.

He should not have to look for long, if Bernard Laporte's successor as France coach opts to bring in a new defence expert. Ellis's impressive c.v. will show that he has turned a previously volatile, erratic team into a formidably tight, coordinated, tenacious unit.

At this stage, he is not sure where his cross-code rugby journey will take him next. "My contract with the French finishes the day after the final," he said. "Wherever I work I don't really mind - as long as I get paid at the end of the week! It's just a case of proving yourself."

He has certainly done that, which is why he found it difficult to take when Sir Clive Woodward did not recruit him for the Lions expedition to New Zealand two years ago. The rejection evidently still jars, but in the event he had the last laugh.

"I was disappointed not even to get a phone call about going on the Lions tour, but I ended up working with the All Blacks - and they won the series 3-0," he said. "I had a great experience working with Graham Henry, Wayne Smith and Steve Hansen, and the information I picked up there really helped us (the French) last weekend."

In Cardiff five days ago, all the hard work Ellis had put in to make France as watertight as possible came to fruition.

Henry's World Cup favourites from New Zealand lost the lead then could not get it back again thanks to a magnificent example of defensive defiance.

Laporte's team won 20-18 to highlight the gradual cultural revolution that has taken place in their game.

Asked if it has been difficult to make Frenchmen concentrate on stifling creativity rather than producing it, Ellis said: "It has taken a long while but it's not just about defence. You're never going to be able to defend well if you don't have discipline.

"An important factor when I came along was passing on the discipline of England and the English-speaking countries. We have built that discipline into the French defence a bit at a time. You can't change things overnight, but everybody is on track now.

Because they're worth it: a languid Rougerie (below top left) seems to be recreating David Ginola's shampoo ad with his pedigree chum while Elissalde and Heymans (below middle left) aren't taking any chances with a certain wallpaper paste, although it's not what Clerc meant when he said he wanted to be France's new pin-up boy.

Time's up: Ibanez (top right) can hug the ball all he likes, but that clock says 9.42. Or 9-42 to England! Ask Betsen (middle right) - he knows how it's going to end

Jauzion (bottom left) is hedging his bets between endorsing a fabric softener and painkillers, while Pelous (bottom right) lost the toss for the best dressing room. Or maybe he is just advertising a laxative

"It has transmitted itself to the public, too. In the last 10 minutes against the All Blacks we must have made about 80 tackles and the French public were singing La Marseillaise while the team were defending, which was fantastic.

"The players now appreciate that if we defend well and force turnovers, then we put ourselves in the situation where the French flair can come into play."

Ellis has grown used to questions about divided loyalties ahead of every England-France match. Yesterday, as always, he insisted that heart and head were fully in the French corner. He is not remotely concerned about being unpopular in his home country if Laporte's men triumph on Saturday. He even claimed to be the 'most motivated' member of the home squad for this fixture.

He believes France are far better than at the World Cup four years ago, when England beat them 24-7 in the last four to reach the final. But he has been impressed - not surprised - by what Brian Ashton's team have achieved this time round.

"I wasn't thinking we would be playing Australia this week," he said. "I actually tipped England to be in the semi-finals before the World Cup started. I knew that they would get better and better.

"We've got a good idea what strategy they're going to use. Wilkinson is back on track now because he finally has a scrum half who can pass to him in Andy Gomarsall. Having Mike Catt there also helps them because he gives England that extra option and a get- out clause if Jonny is under extreme pressure.

"I don't know if they've peaked. Slowly but surely they're trying to put a more attacking game together, and they moved the ball around more against Australia than they had before. If they're prepared to do that against Australia, no doubt they're prepared to do that against us."

England will do that against an unchanged France team. Coach Laporte has kept faith with the players who stunned the All Blacks, including flanker Serge Betsen, who appeared to have been knocked out cold last Saturday.

Aside from being ordered by the International Rugby Board to stop training at their normal headquarters in Marcoussis, as they thought it gave the hosts an 'unfair advantage' because it was not included on the official list of training grounds to be utilised by the semi-finalists, they have very few worries as the big night looms.