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LONDON - New Zealand's contingent at today's 2011 World Cup pool draw seemed as pumped as the inflatable rugby ball the allocation was made in.
The prospect of rematch with nemesis France was being savoured by tournament organisers, while All Blacks management also put on a brave face.
New Zealand and France being grouped together in Pool A was a talking point after four pods of five nations were determined in a draw conducted by New Zealand Rugby Union (NZRU) chairman Jock Hobbs.
The All Blacks will likely open the tournament against Les Bleus - the team notorious for eliminating them from both the 1999 and 2007 editions of the sport's global showpiece.
They are grouped together for the first time in pool play and can only meet again in the final, comfort perhaps for the All Blacks considering they have previously fallen to the Tricolores in the semis and quarters.
The one time they met in the final, the All Blacks won at Eden Park 21 years ago to become the inaugural holders of the Webb Ellis Trophy.
While the spectre of France may be uncomfortable for the current All Blacks head coach Graham Henry and captain Richie McCaw, their positioning in pool A should prove beneficial.
In France last year the easy pool opposition was among the excuses presented for the All Blacks' premature exit after they blitzed Italy, Portugal, a deliberately weakened Scotland and Romania.
Those romps hardly steeled the team for the knockout phase.
The All Blacks will also encounter Tonga while the identity of the American and Asian qualifiers to make up the numbers may not be finalised along with six other unknown teams until 2010.
Henry had no qualms about the prospect of potentially opening the tournament against the team that placed his career in jeopardy.
"It's nice to get them in a pool game where not everything depends on winning," he smiled before making a pertinent point.
"It's three years away. A lot can happen in three years - teams can get stronger and teams can deteriorate."
France coach Marc Lievremont is already claiming underdog status by predicting his team would finish second best in the pool - and was more concerned about beating the Pacific Islanders.
Hobbs, who is also chairman of Rugby New Zealand 2011, the tournament's New Zealand-based organiser, was delighted France would ensure a competitive pool.
He suggested they would also be a fitting opponent when the curtain was raised at a rebuilt Eden Park.
"It's been mentioned here already. Immediately after the draw people were talking about that potential match-up," he said after the function inside Tourism New Zealand's giant rugby ball placed near Tower Bridge.
"We have a strong historical relationship with French rugby, there's the fact we lost the last quarterfinal and it's a major match in its own right.
"It may be the right game to start the Cup."
The draw and venue allocations will be made after consultation with the International Rugby Board's (IRB) subsidiary, Rugby World Cup Ltd, in mid-March.
The All Blacks quarterfinal opponents will emerge from pool B whose big three are Argentina, England and Scotland.
Defending champions South Africa or Six Nations champions Wales potentially loom in the semis.
The Springboks and Wales head Pool D, which also includes Fiji and probably Samoa as the yet to be determined Oceania qualifier.
Australia, Ireland and Italy make up the top three teams in Pool C.
McCaw said the progress shown by a new-look team this season was promising three years out from a tournament where the pressure of ending the Cup curse will be even more acute, given New Zealand is hosting the tournament.
"We have done pretty well this year. We've had to come from behind on several occasions and shown a lot of character and composure.
"That's been led by the senior boys who went through the hurt of last year," said McCaw, who led the All Blacks to victory in the Bledisloe Cup, and Tri-Nations before achieving a Grand Slam.
- NZPA
