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EDINBURGH - France have motored ahead of Argentina and Ireland as likely All Blacks quarterfinal opponents at the rugby World Cup but coach Graham Henry remains ambivalent.
The tournament hosts' 25-3 crushing win over Ireland in Paris yesterday morning (NZT) and today's 63-3 rout of Namibia by Argentina in Marseille leave France rushing headlong towards a quarterfinal against New Zealand in Cardiff.
If Henry's men beat a second-string Scotland here tomorrow morning they will top pool C and face the second-placed team in pool D, currently headed by the Pumas courtesy of their opening upset of the French.
France lie second and will probably stay there.
They will guarantee themselves a quarterfinal berth if they win and get a bonus point against Georgia in Marseille on September 30.
Two hours after that, Argentina need only secure a solitary bonus point by finishing within seven points against the struggling Irish to hold on to top spot.
Were Ireland to win with a four-try bonus, they would eliminate the Argentines and go on to meet the All Blacks.
That would best suit France, who are gathering momentum and would face a much easier quarterfinal against either Scotland or Italy.
The world's top-ranked team locking horns with the French would capture the imagination of the rugby world - certainly a lot earlier than tournament organisers would have hoped.
However, Henry is not sweating over that prospect.
He gave away no clues when asked what results he would like to see unfold in pool D over the coming week.
"I don't think we've got any particular team that we want to play in the quarterfinals," he said.
"Whatever happens, happens. It's not an issue to us. We've just got to look after what we're trying to do."
Privately, Henry's attitude will be more focused.
A meticulous planner, he and assistants Steve Hansen and Wayne Smith will be starting to collate their thoughts about France.
The trio would have been angered by flight delay problems out of Edinburgh on Friday afternoon which prevented them from being at Stade de France for the match against Ireland.
Instead they had to watch the game on television in London and spend the night there.
"Obviously the French were the better side, they won by a considerable margin," was Henry's summation, before acknowledging their obvious improvement in the space of two weeks.
"Their forwards got domination in the tight five, which allowed the rest of them to play pretty well. I think the French made big strides from where they'd been in the early games."
All Blacks captain Richie McCaw watched snippets of the game.
"The result spoke for it, the French were the better team. They showed what they can do," he said.
"All around the park, they were the better team. They looked dangerous."
French centre Damien Traille said his side were on a mental upswing and would not agonise over a quarterfinal rendezvous with the All Blacks.
"The smiles are back on our faces," Traille said.
"We feared the World Cup might be all over and we were determined not to let that happen. The adventure continues.
"We want to be world champions and to do that, we'll have to beat the All Blacks at some stage, so why not in the quarterfinals."
About four hours after tomorrow morning's (NZT) game against Scotland here, the All Blacks are due to catch a charter flight back to their French base in Aix en Provence.
They will spend Monday recuperating before taking two days' break from rugby, with the players free to follow their own pursuits with friends or family anywhere in France during that period.
They reconvene on Thursday, allowing just two days of preparation before the final pool match against Romania in Toulouse on Sunday morning (NZT).
- NZPA
