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PARIS - Fiery determination mingles with a sense of impending doom as France contemplates its quarter-final showdown against the All Blacks.
As soon as Argentina whipped Ireland to seal the top spot in their pool, condemning les Bleus to face the All Blacks steamroller in the first knockout
phase of the World Cup, the mood across the country has been mixed.
Some hope for an Austerlitz, when Napoleon set a trap to outsmart a numerically superior force. Most, though, are bracing for a Waterloo, when Boney's men were shot to pieces.
"Les Bleus are at the foot of the black mountain," said Le Parisien. "The horizon is black," intoned L'Equipe. "Les Bleus must now meet the New Zealand ogre," said Le Figaro. "Black is black," said France-Soir.
Soothsayers have been talking up chances that the Haka could be followed by the Choke if French spirit and guile can take the stellar New Zealand side off-guard from the start, as they famously did in 1999.
They have been expounding at what are deemed to be chinks in the All Blacks' armour, such as a poor lineout, the fumbled passes in the match against Scotland, the vulnerability of giants to the standoff weapon which is the drop goal.
An opinion poll shows that 45 per cent of French supporters believe their XV can beat the All Blacks. "Small teams can beat huge armadas," says former rugby coach Henry Broncan.
But the All Blacks have a crushing psychological advantage. They won all of their last seven matches against France. This record, their sporting prowess, that neat strip and some clever marketing have given them an image of invincibility here.
French coach Bernard Laporte last weekend strove desperately to puncture the awe. "First of all, they're not les Blacks, they're New Zealanders. When you say les Blacks, you get the impression it's a myth or something," he told a TV interviewer, clearly irritated.
Bookmakers, chillingly realistic, rate France's chances of victory at no better than 25 per cent.
As the tournament moves into its critical phase, enthusiasm here is red hot.
World Cup bunting is all around the capital. Trains boast the RWC logo. The Paris city council has installed giant screens in several locations ahead of the match, capable of being watched by more than 25,000 people.
Some buses have taken down their destination signs and replaced them with Allez Les Bleus messages. Toyota is selling a limited "les Bleus" edition of one of its cars, promoting it with a poster that extends across the entire length of a metro station by the Opera and main department stores, featuring hundreds of people bent over in a maul, pushing the national side to victory.
More than 20,000 French fans are travelling to Cardiff, undeterred by the cost. A Paris travel agent is selling return tickets on a charter flight for 494 euros, for those who baulk at the regular fare of 800 euros return trip. The price of the match ticket is not included.
TF1, the French television channel that has rights to the match, is ready for a bumper viewership. "TF1 could get its best audience of the year," predicts Emmanuel Charonnat of the advertising agency Publicis.
A record 14.5 million viewers tuned into for the IrelandFrance match two weeks ago, the highest ever for a televised rugby match in France. It was almost half a million more than tuned in for the opening match against Argentina on September 7.
The channel is charging 130,000 euros for a 30-second advertising spot for the Cardiff match, only a little short of the 160,000 euros it charged for another highly-charged quarter-final - the France-Brazil standoff in football's World Cup last year.
Since the tournament kicked off just four weeks ago, rugby clubs across France have recorded huge increases in new enrolments, particularly among those aged under 15, according to the French Rugby Federation (FFR).
"Measured by the number of leaflets that we've been mailing out, interest is up nationwide by between 20 and 30 per cent," said FFR official Marc Juhoor.
And who knows, maybe - just maybe all these youngsters will be starting their rugby career with a legendary victory by Raphael Ibanez and his men.
