All Black coach hopes to rewrite Rugby World Cup history

All Blacks Coach Graham Henry. Photo / Christine Cornege

Favouritism against France at a Rugby World Cup. It is a familiar feeling for the All Blacks but not one which sits comfortably with the squad and certainly not the coaches.

They watched France lurch past an under-manned Welsh side, which earned them widespread disapproval as a threat in Sunday's showdown at Eden Park.

But Graham Henry, his coaching crew and players have grisly four-year-old memories of how the Tricolors can create mayhem and almost cost them their jobs. Those topics were close to the surface for Henry yesterday as he viewed the run to the final.

"That game caused some people a lot of pain," Henry said.

That season, France lost 42-11 then 61-10 in two tests in New Zealand before outlasting the All Blacks 20-18 in the Cardiff quarter-final. That result had spawned a vast amount of media examination and it had been a similar scenario in 1999 as well, when the All Blacks had suffered World Cup trouble against France.

Henry's teams had played France in 10 tests and won eight, losing their World Cup quarter-final in 2007 and then in Dunedin in 2009.

The 2007 World Cup loss was "the most bizarre game that I have ever been involved in", said Henry. "But we won't define bizarre, not totally anyway, so there is a lot of history here."

His squad was still recovering after their 20-6 semifinal victory against the Wallabies and would work slowly into their week. The coaching staff had dissected the tournament history and why the All Blacks had failed to win a title since 1987, and all that information would be linked into this week's preparation.

"It has been helpful. This group has not been in a final so it is a new experience but as I said after the game it is important to come down, get to base again, have a clean sheet of paper and then build again for this test against the French," Henry said.

"Although they did not play very well in their semifinal, we know they have the ability to play some outstanding rugby and they have done that in the past and they will have nothing to lose on Sunday and they will play well.

"We have to make sure we do the business again."

He had been delighted with the win over the Wallabies and the edge his side displayed. The game plan had a heavy emphasis on territory and that was a sensible tactic in these sudden-death encounters.

Referee Craig Joubert has earned the plaudits of his bosses to control the World Cup final after being a touch judge and TMO at the last tournament. He related well to the players, said Henry, was clear in his instructions and showed a great deal of composure.

The All Blacks had few injuries: Ma'a Nonu suffered a stinger in his shoulder, Andy Ellis and Cory Jane damaged their noses and Piri Weepu was recovering from the flu.

Henry had no doubt France would be up for their third World Cup final.

On their day they could be the best in the world but perhaps a physical approach dominated skill levels these days in France.

The playoffs section of the World Cup were different because they involved a sudden-death mentality when most teams played at a better level than usual.