KEY POINTS:
Failure or the guillotine. Nothing blurred like the jersey fiasco - just a simple triumph or failure faces the All Blacks tomorrow against the tournament hosts.
It is no time for anyone to be squeamish.
Victory in Cardiff is the only acceptable verdict when the New Zealand Rugby Union's obsession about winning the World Cup has impacted so drastically on the rest of the season.
Defeat against a patchy French side in a quarter-final would be the All Black nadir since the World Cup made its debut 20 years ago. It should only be a game, but the NZRU has made it more than that this time. They have cranked up the stakes on the team and the nation.
So the weight of expectation does sit on the All Blacks tomorrow and for the rest of their World Cup campaign. The deeper they go in the tournament, the greater the pressure and hope.
Ever since coach Graham Henry and his henchmen were given the green light to condition a shadow All Black squad instead of playing them for the start of the Super 14, the stakes have increased.
In taking the flak and explaining his strategy, Henry said the approach was all about having the squad in peak condition in October. Well, here we are in Cardiff in the first week of that month and we are about to find out. No excuses, this is judgment time.
All the planning, all the investment, all the energy in preparation has been aimed at the World Cup playoffs.
The All Blacks claim Daniel Carter is ready after his calf strain, they have picked Mils Muliaina as their best centre and they believe Anton Oliver's lineout throwing will stand up to the French inquisition.
They favour Keith Robinson's mongrel ahead of Chris Jack's athleticism. They consider the back three to be defensively solid and have picked 11 players who did not start last weekend.
The All Blacks are fresh, they are mighty fit, but there must be some apprehension that they are still carrying some of the rust they showed against Scotland B at Murrayfield.
However the selectors have made these choices, now we can get a line on their assessments when the All Blacks finally meet a side who might pose some threat after the meagre opposition in the four pool matches.
Might, but probably not. Not on the evidence of France's tournament so far and their spluttering form at home last year against the All Blacks.
France do not have a scrum to compete with the All Blacks; they do not have the same fire at the breakdown or the brilliance in their backs.
Coach Bernard Laporte has been more concerned about building results on his defence and the strength of a lineout, while he has added a big kicking game with new five-eighths Lionel Beauxis and Damien Traille at fullback tomorrow.
But for the kicks to succeed, they either have to find touch to involve the lineout threat from Fabien Pelous, Jerome Thion and Julien Bonnaire - or have a strong line of chasers.
It could work, but it will need some panic from the All Blacks or some of that hazardous counter-attack they use from within their 22, to derail the tournament favourites.
The All Blacks will have to work hard - and they have done that all tournament - while captain Richie McCaw must also control young referee Wayne Barnes.
As one of two survivors, with Byron Kelleher, from the French mugging in the World Cup semifinal of 1999, hooker Anton Oliver carries no grief, just confidence about tomorrow.
"If this team plays to its potential and delivers, it is going to take a very good side to beat us," he said.
"There has just been a belief created in the last two or three years, a confidence which comes from preparation."
If the mental marbles are aligned, the All Blacks will head for a semifinal in Paris. If they play without conviction, they risk taking a funereal bus ride to Heathrow and the earliest All Black exit in World Cup history.
* No 8 Sione Lauaki's suspension for an alleged dangerous tackle was wiped yesterday. An appeal committee quashed the two-week ban, saying the conclusion that the attempted tackle on winger Gabriel Brezoinu was late could not be supported.
