Aston Villa's Republic of Ireland defender Richard Dunne has launched a stunning attack on France coach Raymond Domenech.

Dunne says the Republic of Ireland has sensed weakness in their World Cup play-off opponents, France.

"Every time a tournament comes round, they [France] have all these world-class players and then a man who seems intent on messing them up," he said. "Over the last World Cups and European Championships, things have not run smoothly for France; they've always got through but maybe it's time that we put a stop to that. And we know that if we can get in front, they probably have not got the man at the top to pull them back around.

"It [Domenech's charge] could be a weakness or it could be a big smokescreen; France have played really well in their last few games. But if we can get on top of them and try to turn the game into a battle, we feel we have the stronger personalities."

Domenech is far from being the most popular figure in French sport and when he attended the Paris Masters tennis tournament with some of his players on Monday, he was jeered by a section of the crowd.

"You can see the reaction of the people at the tennis, when they put his face on the big screen," Dunne added. "The whole place just booed him and his own players laughed at him."