French ready for the fight of their lives

SERGE BETSEN has warned France they must possess “a war-like spirit” in tonight’s World Cup quarter-final with only their best good enough to topple New Zealand.

Les Bleus enter the Millennium Stadium showdown hoping to emulate their predecessors from 1999, who dumped the revered All Blacks out of the tournament with a shock 43-31 victory.

But it has been lean pickings for Bernard Laporte’s side since that Twickenham semi-final eight years ago, winning just two of the 11 contests between the rivals since.

New Zealand hardly broke sweat while cantering into the knockout stages, scoring 46 tries and amassing 309 points on their way to topping Pool C.

The odds are stacked heavily against France reaching the last four of a tournament they are hosting and defensive hardman Betsen knows it will take something special to ruin the script.

“If we don’t go into the game with a war-like spirit, we might as well stay at home,” said the blindside flanker.

“A match always depends on us being ready to fight for everything.

“Only our best performance will be enough to beat New Zealand so we must be ready to perform better than ever before.

“The boys are going to play harder than they have ever played before. They know they need to make less mistakes than they did in the group matches.

“It will be a very tough match. It will be hard for all of us.”

Betsen, whose workrate and tackling have made him one of the talismen of French rugby during his decade in the Test arena, believes his side have blossomed since a disastrous start to the World Cup.

A 17-12 defeat by Argentina in the curtain-raiser condemned France to tomorrow’s quarter-final against New Zealand, but the hosts have been building momentum since.

“Maybe because we don’t have anything to lose. This is rugby — it’s the game we know,” he said.

“For us rugby is so important and we’ve grown from the beginning of the tournament when it was the first World Cup match for many of our players.

“We have drawn lessons from the pool stage and we are very relaxed.

“We can take this experience of playing together and produce on the pitch what we have been planning.

“Maybe we have become more adaptable and resilient than we were four years ago. We have grown up since the 2003 World Cup.

“Many players have grown up too and experienced more. The French team have the possibility to adapt and change. I think it is all about growing up.”

It promises to be a riveting contest between the back rows, although New Zealand possess a clear edge in this department.

With the peerless Richie McCaw lining up at openside for the All Blacks, Betsen knows France’s loose trio will have to work tirelessly.

“It’s true we are playing the best and the All Blacks depend a lot on their back row. But we are not afraid,” he said.

“Richie McCaw is everywhere on the pitch and he is priceless for them.”