Kiwis ready to fly at home

The All Blacks reached the final in 1995 only to lose to South Africa,and they have never made it to the final at any tournament since,until now. But New Zealand coach Graham Henry and his players know only too well that the France team standing between them and World Cup glory at Eden Park on Sunday has the ability to crush those hopes and dreams again,just as it did in the semifinals in 1999 and the quarterfinals in 2007.

The fact that France has made it this far despite having suffered two pool losses and scraped past 14-man Wales in an unconvincing manner in the semifinals does not make it any less dangerous.

As far as the All Blacks are concerned,France’s being written off by all and sundry makes it more likely that Les Bleus will produce a performance capable of winning the Webb Ellis Cup.

“This French team,we are not sure who is going to turn up,quite frankly,” Henry said on Friday. “We have to prepare like they are going to be the best in the world. They have certainly got the individuals to do that. It’s just whether they can produce that as a side. They feel they are not being considered in this final by a lot of people,” he said.

“We don’t think that. We think that they are a very good rugby team. They’ve got some outstanding players,and it’s going to be a huge final.”

From the moment New Zealand lost to France in the 2007 quarterfinal in Cardiff,the onus was on captain Richie McCaw and his team to put matters right when rugby’s gala event returned to New Zealand soil.

Since the All Blacks kicked off the 2011 edition of the World Cup against Tonga on September 9,that pressure has only increased game by game,yet the All Blacks have remained calm and focused throughout — even when they lost two key players,Daniel Carter and Mils Muliaina,to injury. During the past week,the All Blacks have talked of the excitement of making a World Cup final,not of the pressure to perform. But Henry knows just how important it is for this current crop of players — who are rated the best in the world — to lift the Webb Ellis Cup in triumph on Sunday.

France,which has had a tumultuous campaign under its embattled coach,Marc Liévremont,has been heavily criticized during the past six weeks,and one would be hard-pressed to find anyone outside of France willing to back the team to win on Sunday.

Les Bleus declared during the week that “it is us against the world,” and winger Vincent Clerc,who is the leading try-scorer in the tournament along with England’s Chris Ashton,said the adverse reaction to their reaching the final — and the much-publicized tempestuous relationship between the players and coach — might actually be the catalyst needed to succeed. EMMA STONEY