Rugby World Cup: French Cup side 'far from throwing it'

The selection of Morgan Parra at 10 raises questions. Photo / Sarah Ivey

The French stand accused of losing the battle to win the war. So: are they throwing tomorrow's match against the All Blacks by putting out a second string side? Definitely not, according to France's most capped player.

Former French captain Fabien Pelous is also a member of Les Bleus' selection committee. "This isn't a B team, far from it. We don't yet have a definitive first team, but this selection is pretty close to what I think the quarter-final team will look like.

"I can understand that the selection of Parra at 10 raises questions, but [Francois] Trinh-Duc was never going to play all the pool games, and we don't have much of a choice in terms of rotation. Marc Lievremont has always said he planned to mix the squad up for pool games."

Trinh-Duc has also been well below par; the back-up first five-eighths, David Skrela, has gone home injured, and his replacement, Jean-Marc Doussain, has only just arrived in New Zealand, having been held back to play in a Top 14 game with Toulouse - where he plays at halfback inside Luke McAlister (who, incidentally, is carving up the French championship at the moment).

Pelous also justifies the benching of William Servat, widely seen as first choice hooker: "Servat has played the first two games, he's coming back from injury - and [Dimitri] Szarzewski is in good form and could be first choice himself."

Still, if it was the quarter-final, would Lievremont have chanced his arm with Parra? "I couldn't say."

"The thing is, it isn't the quarter-final. There are other games to play - and unless I'm mistaken, Carter and McCaw didn't play against Japan."

But this is the big game - France v New Zealand at the Rugby World Cup.

"Perhaps for the French it isn't the big game. It's a pool game. Playing against NZ is always special, but it isn't yet a crunch match. We don't have the knife at our throats."

Not exactly a statement of intent, but talking up your team's chances against the All Blacks is rarely a good policy. Does Pelous have an explanation for the eternal unpredictability of the French? "We bring a lot of emotion to playing the game. The Latin temperament is part of this ... and we are able to lift ourselves occasionally, to get up when we have to.

"We hover between fourth and sixth on the IRB rankings - which is about our level when we play at 100 per cent - but for a one-off we can play at 120 per cent and be as good as number one. This emotional side mystifies the Anglo Saxons and gives us an edge."

A prediction? "I think it will be quite close, but the All Blacks will probably win. It would be a bit much to beat you twice in your own country, once in the pool and once in the final."

Yes, the French probably will lose this round - maybe even by an embarrassingly wide margin - but chances are they will come out stronger for it.

It's also worth remembering that Bernard Laporte, the previous French coach, controversially benched his two stars - Frederic Michalak and Sebastien Chabal - at Cardiff in 2007 before bringing them on in the second half. We know how that turned out.

If the French needed any extra motivation, they'll have found it on Wednesday's Herald front page - which may well end up on the wall of the French dressing room.

- John Daniell is a Kiwi journalist working in France who played for Perpignan.