The weird and wonderful history of French rugby is littered with examples of Les Bleus going from the ridiculous to the sublime, and back again.
Last week was a case in point, as Thierry Dusautoir and his men confounded critics by producing clearly the most unexpected performance of the World Cup to date. Brutal but at the same time inspired, intensely physical up front, but with a glorious deftness of touch in the backs, this was French rugby at its idiosyncratic best.
Exactly how the Tricolors managed to bounce back from their pitiful defeat to Tonga one week to blow England out of the water the next almost defies belief. But ever since they walked off the pitch at Eden Park last Saturday, their minds have been set on one thing: proving they can do it again.
France, of course, have been in this situation many times before. Even back in 1987, when Jacques Fouroux's band of merry men beat the Wallabies in that pulsating semifinal in Sydney, they were unable to fire a shot in the final the following week here in Auckland. Over the 24 years since that historic first final, many of the French players have shrugged it off, saying the Sydney win, against the tournament favourites, was in fact their final, and that by the time they got to Eden Park they were too emotionally drained to get themselves up again.
Exactly the same thing happened in 1999, and again in 2007, when the French camp got swept up in a wave of emotion after knocking the All Blacks out, but then failed to follow up their upset victories with another world-beating performance.