As if to re-emphasise the point, later that day, asked how he expected the game to pan out, French coach Jacques Fouroux stared the questioner in the eye, did not utter a word, simply banged a fist into his palm. Very hard.
At other times, it has been less simple to figure out, rather like donning a blindfold and stabbing a pin at circles marked "expansive" and "tight".
No hardcore All Black supporter will forget the 1999 semifinal at Twickenham - far more so than the general stuff-up of Cardiff four years ago - and that will forever be parked in the third circle headed "What The ... !"
So what of English expectations for Saturday?
Their record against France is pretty handy, both at World Cup time - victories in all three knockout matches - and of late. But should they start to get cosy before Saturday, they can always get lock Tom Palmer to bend their ear.
Palmer has played at Stade Francais for a couple of years, and knows the players pretty well.
"There have been times at Stade Francais when the players haven't been mentally strong as a group - when people have folded quickly, have shown signs of not giving their all," he said. "But this week, I'm happy to buy into the old cliche about animals being most dangerous when they're wounded.
"They'll be thinking that, even though they've lost two pool games, they've been given another chance - that they're one performance away from a World Cup semifinal."
Palmer is happy to bang the drum marked 'Approach With Care'.
"The way I look at it, any player would be foolish to go into a knockout match with the slightest feeling of complacency. We should expect nothing less than the fight of our lives."
England have some fitness issues to work through today. First five-eighths Jonny Wilkinson trained yesterday, giving his injured elbow a workout. However Mike Tindall, who suffered a dead leg in the win over Scotland last weekend, sat the session out.
Wilkinson's goalkicking radar was on the blink against the Scots. Toby Flood provided a different dimension when he came on and must have at least given coach Martin Johnson pause for thought ahead of naming their team to play the French tomorrow.
And if England are curious why France have stuck with regular halfback Morgan Parra at first five-eighth, they should ask their own halfback Richard Wigglesworth, who has experienced it at Sale with future French coach Philippe Saint-Andre.
"I think it is something more in the French culture," he said."It happens a lot over there. They are all good footballers so can easily change between them."
