KEY POINTS:
PARIS - France coach Bernard Laporte has turned up the World Cup heat by reiterating that the All Blacks play "to the limit of the rules" and benefit from weak refereeing.
"They've made their choice: and that is to play to the limit of the rules and sometimes beyond," Laporte told La Provence newspaper in an interview published on Saturday.
"They have mastered the art of going to the edge of what's allowed."
Any claims of Laporte being bitter over their double hammering in New Zealand earlier this summer appear to have been played down by the Frenchman.
"There's no doubt there was a gulf between both teams this summer. The All Blacks were superior to us (New Zealand won 42-11 and 61-10) but it becomes an issue if the referee doesn't whistle when they commit fouls."
Laporte is no stranger to controversy as far as New Zealand is concerned.
In June, he was accused of threatening to end the career of referee Stuart Dickinson after the Australian had officiated the first Test in Wellington where France lost 42-11.
But Laporte, who will take up the job as sports minister in the French government after the end of the World Cup, denied he made threats.
"I was never threatening. Stuart Dickinson has confirmed this. I just said to him that you can't always be happy to say, `oh yes, it's a refereeing error'."
The 2007 World Cup gets underway on September 7 when France meet Argentina in Paris in the tournament opener.
- AFP
