Tuesday 02nd October 2007
They've beaten South Africa, they've beaten Australia, they've won the Six Nations crown for the past two years, but not since that famous day at Twickenham in 1999 have France laid waste to the All Blacks.
Moreover, the reverses against the All Blacks have frequently been utterly one-sided, particularly over the past four years when France - at full strength - have been smashed 45-6 and 47-3 in Paris and Lyon respectively.
Yet this French team is not without fight or discipline, and is eminently capable of springing a surprise - indeed, given that the formbooks all point to New Zealand, that the match is in Cardiff, that the French are still reeling from a defeat in the openieng match to Argentina and that New Zealand have not yet won by less than 40 points this tournament, it almost appears to be French destiny to do so.
Coach Bernard Laporte is not one given to bouts of unrealistic romance though, and said that the videos of past embarrassments at All Black hands would feature in his preparations for Saturday's match.
"We are going to analyse the videos of the two matches we lost to them at Lyon and Paris in 2006," he said on Tuesday.
"We are going to watch the Tri-Nations matches in which they struggled against Australia and South Africa. We are going to try to detect the cracks. After all they're not supermen. They've got flaws.
We want to win this World Cup and to do that we have to win three more matches. In any case we would have had to play New Zealand at one stage or another.
"We're getting ready to play the strongest team in the world. You can't hide from the fact, but we're neither worried nor resigned to our fate."
It has already been a blow of sorts for the French to lose 'home-ground advantage' for their World Cup quarter-final (although one senses it may lift the pressure on the team not to be in front of an expectant Parisian public), but the French have survived the Pool of death, which Laporte says represents a new-found spirit within his team.
That team - a squad of thirty, all with roles to play - is still working well, and still champing at the bit to right the wrongs of the disastrous opening night.
Laporte also hinted that there may be an ace up his sleeve, with young fly-half Lionel Beauxis apparently the men with the game to fit Laporte's plan.
"We all pulled together after the Argentina match. Moreover we knew it would only get more difficult. I sense a great motivation, a great determination amongst the players," continued Laporte.
"We continue to keep faith in the competition for places within the squad. Just as the New Zealanders do.
"Like them, we don't have a first XV. We realise one thing though, and that is we need either at fly-half or inside centre a player with a good kicking game, who can find their 22 from our 22. So, yes, we are thinking of (fly-half Lionel) Beauxis and (centre Damien) Traille. But you'll find out more Wednesday morning (when team is announced)."
He still has his sense of humour though. France team manager Jo Maso - and most of the rest of France - prefers to call Saturday's opposition the All Blacks, while Laporte prefers to talk about the New Zealanders. Why Laporte's idiosyncracy?
"It's even more accurate given the fact they'll be playing in grey," he quipped - thus clearing up any confusion as to what colours will be gracing the Cardiff turf on Saturday.
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