Having already downed England at Twickenham this month for the first ever time, the Pumas can beat France for the fifth straight match at the Stade de France.

France last defeated Argentina seven years ago at the World Cup and the two teams next meet again to open next year's World Cup on Sept. 7.

France captain Raphael Ibanez wants his players to end the losing streak.

``We need to mark our territory,'' he said. ``This match carries a lot of weight . . . they have beaten us four times in a row.''

While coach Bernard Laporte has tried to take the pressure off his team by saying a win is not essential, team manager Jo Maso appears to think quite the opposite.

``It's a match we can't afford to lose,'' Maso said.

Maso is afraid a defeat could send a message that France is weakening, rather than strengthening, 10 months shy of the World Cup.

``We would lose the credit that we have gained over the last three years,'' Maso said.

The Pumas followed up its 25-18 win over England by beating Italy 23-16 the following week. But coach Marcelo Loffreda feels beating France would surpass the victory over England.

``This is the real test for us,'' Loffreda said in Thursday's edition of L'Equipe. ``France plays a very high level of rugby. If we don't stay focused we will pay very dearly.''

With 11 of the Pumas' starting team based in France, Loffreda is full of praise for the hosts.

``Technically, this has helped us improve a lot,'' he said.

Elvis Vermeulen is one of several France players who play club rugby with an Argentine international. Vermeulen plays for Clermont, as does Pumas hooker Mario Ledesma.

``They are players who have a really strong character,'' Vermeulen said. ``They never give up and are always looking to play the right way.''

Augustin Pichot, Ignacio Corleto and Juan Hernandez of Argentina will go up against Stade Francais teammates Pieter De Villiers, Remy Martin and Christophe Dominici.

``We have been teasing each other in training,'' Martin said. ``We've been talking about it for a while. It's important to make our mark because we play them in the World Cup.''

Stade Francais prop Sylvain Marconnet, among France's replacements, is less cordial.

``There will be no friends,'' he said. ``We want the victory, just as much as they do.''

Disappointed with his players in the lineout against Italy, Loffreda feels his squad is yet to gel.

To counter what he describes as France's ``superior ability to read the game and see the gaps,'' Loffreda has been working on his team's positional sense at training this week.

Laporte made two changes to the team that lost 23-11 to New Zealand last weekend.

Scrum half Dimitri Yachvili comes in because Jean-Baptiste Elissalde has a calf injury, while Christophe Dominici is given another chance on the wing and Aurelien Rougerie drops to the bench.

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France

Pepito Elhorga, Cedric Heymans, Florian Fritz, Yannick Jauzion, Christophe Dominici, Damien Traille, Dimitri Yachvili; Olivier Milloud; Raphael Ibanez (capt.), Pieter de Villiers, Lionel Nallet, Pascal Pape, Julien Bonnaire, Remy Martin, Elvis Vermeulen.

Replacements: Dimitri Szarzewski, Sylvain Marconnet, Loic Jacquet, Serge Betsen, Pierre Mignoni, David Marty, Aurelien Rougerie.

Argentina

Juan Martin Hernandez, Jose Maria Nunez Piossek, Manuel Contepomi, Felipe Contepomi, Ignacio Corleto, Federico Todeschini, Agustin Pichot (capt.); Martin Scelzo, Mario Ledesma, Omar Hasan, Ignacio Fernandez Lobbe, Patricio Albacete, Martin Durand, Juan Fernandez Lobbe, Gonzalo Longo.

Replacements: Alberto Vernet Basualdo, Marcos Ayerza, Esteban Lozada, Juan Manuel Leguizamon, Nicolas Fernandez Miranda, Hernan Senillosa, Horacio Agulla.