Six Nations leaders France travel to face Wales on Friday with few reasons to fear the occasion, their Grand Slam hopes intact and having won all three meetings since Wayne Pivac took charge of the latter in 2019.
Fabien Galthie's side have already cleared likely their biggest obstacle out of the way after overcoming Ireland 30-24 in the second round, with only Wales (away) and England (home) still to play.
Titleholders Wales, on the other hand, have already seen their dream for consecutive crowns extinguished following losses to Ireland and England, with the side sat fifth ahead of their penultimate game.
And yet former Six Nations regular Nigel Owens has warned of the "special" atmosphere that's sure to await Les Bleus in Cardiff and the impact that could have in causing what would be an upset for the ages.
Owens—who reigned as one of rugby's elite referees for 17 years and presided over the 2015 World Cup final—stopped short of saying Wales "should" have beaten England at Twickenham but lauded their comeback effort.
Alex Dombrandt's try—which should have been ruled out for line-out obstruction—early in the second half of that match left Wales 17-0 behind, but a late barrage of tries saw them narrowly lose 23-19.
"Another five or 10 minutes in that game and I think we would have [beaten England]," the Carmarthenshire native told Mirror Sport ahead of Friday's clash at the Principality Stadium.
"So to go to Twickenham and [show Wales] could have beaten England, we are capable of beating the French. That's not to say I think England are anywhere near as good as France are at the moment.
"Leading up to the Scottish game [where France won 36-17 at Murrayfield ], I was thinking 'You know what, we could upset them [France] in Cardiff,' but I can't see them slipping up now.
"They've got that [winning] mentality, and that is the key difference, I think."
Wales notched their only win over Scotland following their opening defeat to Ireland, though that 20-17 victory came by the skin of their teeth thanks to a late Dan Biggar drop goal.
Les Bleus topped Wales when they hosted the Six Nations' inaugural Friday fixture 13 years ago, but they travel to Cardiff having lost their last two outings in those circumstances (against Wales in 2019 and Scotland in 2021).
There's a sense the overwhelming quality of Galthie's current squad will buck the trend come Friday, and yet part of Owens is at least tempted to believe injury-hit Wales can pull off the shock of the tournament.
"To me, that's when I thought 'We're gonna win this game [against Scotland in Round 2],' when Biggar kicked that first penalty over," Owens added.
"And the roar in the [Principality] stadium from just a penalty going over, I thought 'Ooph, the crowd are behind them today,' and it got them through the game.
"Yes, the home advantage will help Wales. But I think France will be too good. So Friday night it'll be a great atmosphere and a special, special night."
Of the 10 Six Nations fixtures held on Friday evenings to date, Wales have been involved in eight and hosted six of those at the 74,000-seat Principality.
France are well versed after featuring in seven themselves (five of which were against Wales), however, not to mention hosting the maiden match of this kind all the way back in 2009.
In fact, Les Bleus won their first two Friday forays against Wales but have now lost three straight fixtures against this particular foe under those conditions.
"It's all to play for," Owens assures, speaking as one with intimate knowledge of just how great an impact a cauldron-like atmosphere like that of the Principality can have in upsetting the odds.
Nigel Owens was speaking to the Mirror in conjunction with William Hill.
