Marsh catches up with old mates at non-event

11.00am

It was the rugby World Cup game nobody wanted to play but adopted Frenchman Tony Marsh will still cherish the memories of playing 40 minutes against his countrymen last night.

The former Counties, Crusaders and New Zealand Maori centre finally got the opportunity to play the All Blacks in the third place playoff at a muted Telstra Stadium.

New Zealand won 40-13.

Although there was little riding on the match for last weekend's beaten semifinalists, the 31-year-old was still glowing when he spoke of how it felt to play against some of his old mates.

"It was a huge experience, I've waited for quite a while. The last two times I've been injured. It's definitely a highlight on my career."

Marsh was given the added honour of leading France on to the ground opposite former Crusaders' teammate Reuben Thorne.

"It was unexpected, the captain (Yannick Bru) handed me the ball at the last minute and said 'you're leading the team out'. I ran out and then looked back for someone to pass to but there was no one there.

"It was an honour for me, it was fantastic to run out against the Blacks."

Marsh was given the option of playing despite being troubled by an Achilles injury and, as planned, coach Bernard Laporte replaced him with South African-born midfielder Brian Liebenberg at halftime.

"I wasn't supposed to play this game," Marsh said, adding "He (Laporte) asked me last if I wanted to play. I wasn't going to pass up the opportunity."

Although there was no banter exchanged on the pitch, Marsh caught up with some old friends when the All Blacks invited the French in a for a post-match beer.

"It was really nice. These days you sometimes forget about that (bonding). It was good to catch up with Hammer (Mark Hammett) and the guys."

He now faces a rest to get his injury right before the start of the Six Nations in February.

"I'm not thinking that far ahead. I haven't had much time to take things in over the last few weeks."

Meanwhile, French coach Bernard Laporte said there was not a lot of difference in terms of domination or possession in the first half, so he asked his team to move up in defence and pressure the All Blacks more in the second half.

"We had a very good attack close to the New Zealand line with the score at 14-13 (to the All Blacks), but the next thing we knew they had two tries in two minutes and the game had effectively slipped away somewhat."

Laporte said France may have lowered their standards in the last two games and admitted there was a "certain fragility with the French game".

But he said rather than be negative, he wanted to analyse why that was and how the team could move forward and be a force in the Six Nations tournament and future World Cups.

Had France played throughout the tournament as they had in their first half against Ireland, "we were capable of making the final and winning, but obviously that isn't the case. "

French halfback Dimitri Yachvili thought the All Blacks' collective game -- "they know each other off by heart --- had been a decisive factor.

"We certainly did not hit the game with the same rhythm as the All Blacks, that cost us the cash," he said through an interpreter.

- NZPA