Focused and composed All Blacks not writing off French

by Greg Stutchbury

RUGBY: AUCKLAND, Oct 22 (Reuters) - Correcting mistakes of the past has been the mantra of the New Zealand team as they prepared for the rugby World Cup, and it is something the All Blacks have stuck ahead of the final against France on Sunday.

The All Blacks, consistently the best team in the world and

so often pre-tournament favourites, have fallen short at each of the past five World Cups and are facing massive expectation from a rugby-mad country to win their second Webb Ellis trophy.

France have had a muddled campaign, not playing to a level that comes close to suggesting the country has won nine grand slams, and they lost 37-17 to the All Blacks and 19-14 to Tonga in pool play.

After racing to a 16-0 lead they held on to win their quarter-final against England 19-12, but then struggled to overcome 14-man Wales in the semi-final, which has prompted pundits to say they have no chance of winning the final — though the All Blacks do not share that opinion.

“This French team, we’re not sure who’s going to turn up, quite frankly,” All Blacks coach Graham Henry said. “So we’ve got to prepare that they’re going to be the best in the world.

“They’ve certainly got the individuals to do that, it’s just whether they can produce that as a side.

“All the word is that they’ve prepared well and they’re very focused and they’re enjoying the underdog tag.

“They feel that they’re not being considered in this final by a lot of people. We don’t think that. We think they’re a very good rugby team.”

Past mistakes

Henry is mindful of just how good they can be, having beaten New Zealand twice in the World Cup at times when no-one gave them a chance and has been hammering that into his players, who have all dismissed notions of a rout on Sunday.

In 1999, France overturned a 14-point deficit to blow the All Blacks off the field 43-31 in their semi-final, while in 2007 led by the brutal tackling of captain Thierry Dusautoir they poached a 20-18 victory in the quarter-finals.

“They’ve been slammed, been underrated and that’s when the French play their best rugby, when their backs are against the wall,” All Blacks inside centre Ma’a Nonu said.

“You know the last time the All Blacks won (the World Cup) was 1987. We’ve always tried to find ways to answer why we’ve fallen over, you know, where we play good one year and then when it comes to the World Cup we don’t really make it to the end.

“People always say we peak too early and there have always been reasons why we haven’t won in those years. ...(but) for us as players we’re lucky that we’re here and we want to take it on.

“I think this is probably our best chance and we want to take it.” Local and French media, apart from writing off the team’s chances, have also highlighted apparent rifts between the players and outspoken coach Marc Lievermont, though how much of that is smokescreen and mind games by the man who played in the 1999 semi-final victory over the All Blacks is anyone’s guess.

”Although this has been a more relaxing week we are well aware of the great opportunity we have been given — playing a World Cup final in New Zealand, such a great rugby country.

“Of course the pressure has increased but we have to be concentrating on the game.”

All Blacks determined

Dusautoir was also aware of their path into the final — they are the first team to lose two matches during the tournament to make the final game — but that would have no bearing on the outcome.

“We didn’t choose the easiest path to get here but we are here now and we intend to make the most of it,” the French captain told reporters.“We are feeling a little nervous. This is a World Cup final, but we are delighted to be here.“The desire is there, the anticipation is there... the most important thing is ...focusing on ...the match ahead.

New Zealand’s path to final

RUGBY FINAL: AUCKLAND, Oct 22 (AFP) - New Zealand’s path to the Rugby World Cup final against France at Eden Park here on Sunday:

Pool ‘A’ matches:

* Sept 9, Auckland (Eden Park): NEW ZEALAND 41 TONGA 10

Richard Kahui and Israel Dagg scored two tries each as New Zealand kicked off their campaign with a six tries to one romp over the Tongans. The All Blacks had the match in their keeping with a 29-3 half-time lead.

* Sept 16, Hamilton: NEW ZEALAND 83 JAPAN 7

The All Blacks, missing Richie McCaw, Dan Carter and Mils Muliania, ran in 13 tries against the hapless Brave Blossoms with Sonny Bill Williams and Kahui each nabbing a brace of tries and fly-half Colin Slade landing nine conversions.

* Sept 24, Auckland (Eden Park): NEW ZEALAND 37 FRANCE 17

The two finalists met in this pool game where Les Bleus began confidently but were ultimately no match for the All Blacks, who won five tries to two with Dagg scoring a brace and Carter kicking three conversions, a drop goal and a penalty. Skipper McCaw played his 100th Test.

* Oct 2, Wellington: NEW ZEALAND 79 CANADA 15

The unbeaten All Blacks topped their pool with a 12 tries to two romp over the Canadians. Wing Zac Guildford ran in four tries in what has so far been his only appearance at the tournament.

Knockout matches:

[Quarter-final]

* Oct 9, Auckland (Eden Park): NEW ZEALAND 33 ARGENTINA 10

Scrum-half Piri Weepu, taking over the kicking in the absence of sidelined Carter, landed seven penalties in a torrid contest. Argentina restricted the home side to just two tries, both in the final quarter of the game, while the Pumas crossed the line once to briefly lead in the first half. Full-back Mils Muliaina played his 100th Test

[Semi-final]

* Oct 16, Auckland (Eden Park): NEW ZEALAND 20 AUSTRALIA 6

The All Blacks overwhelmed Australia in the physical and tactical exchanges to remain unbeaten at their Eden Park fortress since 1994. Centre Ma’a Nonu scored the only try of a brutal match in the sixth minute and shut down the Wallaby threat with dominant work in the set-pieces and in defence.

France’s path to final

RUGBY FINAL: AUCKLAND, Oct 22 (AFP) - France’s path to the Rugby World Cup final at Eden Park here on Sunday:

Pool ‘A’ matches:

Sept 10, Auckland: (North Harbour): FRANCE 47 JAPAN 21

France got their World Cup campaign off to a shaky start against Japan, allowing the Asian champions to pull within four points in the second-half. but they hung on and three late tries from Lionel Nallet, Pascal Pape and Morgan Parra gave them a winning margin they hardly deserved.

Sept 18, Napier: FRANCE 46 CANADA 19

Parra kicked four conversions and five of his six penalties, including three in nine minutes before half-time that crucially saw France build a substantial lead they never ceded. Wing Vincent Clerc went on to score a hat-trick of tries.

Sept 24, Auckland (Eden Park): NEW ZEALAND 37 FRANCE 17

The All Blacks scored five tries to two for a convincing bonus point victory, as they partly atoned for their stunning quarter-final defeat by the French at the 2007 World Cup. Lievremont, under fire for resting a handful of key players for the game, pinpointed “schoolboy” errors in defence for his side’s defeat.

Oct 1, Wellington: TONGA 19 FRANCE 14

Tonga pulled off one of the biggest shocks in World Cup history as they harried the French into a catalogue of errors. It was France, however, who progressed as pool runners-up behind New Zealand after bagging a losing bonus point.

Knockout matches:

[Quarter-final]

Oct 8, Auckland (Eden Park): FRANCE 19 ENGLAND 12

France played with pride and resolves to turn humiliation into to triumph as they downed tournament nemesis England after building up a 16-0 half-time lead. Half-backs Dimitri Yachvili and Parra controlled play, while Imanol Harinordoquy and Julien Bonnaire led an outstanding French pack.

[Semi-final]

Oct 15, Auckland (Eden Park): FRANCE 9 WALES 8

Three Parra penalties saw France just do enough to beat a Welsh side who, despite being reduced to 14 men after 19 minutes when captain Sam Warburton was shown the red card for a dangerous tip tackle on Clerc, scored the only try of the match.