Rugby World Cup: All Blacks dismiss media's 'French farce' theory

All Blacks assistant coach Steve Hansen on Wednesday dismissed out of hand the idea that the France team selected for Saturday's World Cup clash at Eden Park was a second-string outfit.

The front-page splash on Wednesday's edition of New Zealand's biggest newspaper, The Herald, described the much-anticipated match as a 'French Farce' and accused the Europeans of fielding a 'B team' for the encounter.

"I think it's a really good team," Hansen told reporters. "Their coach has picked what he thinks is the best team for the tournament. We'll treat them with the utmost respect as we always do."

France have famously sent the All Blacks out of two World Cups, most recently with their shock 20-18 victory in Cardiff at the 2007 edition.

The media accusations against France lay mainly in coach Marc Lievremont's decision to hand Morgan Parra, normally a scrum-half, his first start at fly-half alongside Dimitri Yachvili at halfback for the Pool A showdown.

"You can say that it's the first time they have picked that combination, because that's a fact," said Hansen. "But when we picked Richard Kahui on the wing, everybody thought we were crazy. That hasn't turned out too badly.

"Who are we to suggest what is their best combination at halfback and first five for this Test match?"

France's players also dismissed the theory. "The local press must have scandals to sell newspapers," said second row Pascal Pape. "It's all part of the battle. The best answer will be brought on the pitch on Saturday. But it did make me smile.

"It is a lack of respect for the players chosen for Saturday," he said, more seriously. "That motivates us more than it demotivates us. It is extra motivation."

Ireland's shock victory over Australia last weekend, which looks like resulting in all the Tri-Nations teams ending up on the same side of the draw in the knockout phase, had triggered a swirl of conspiracy theories around the tournament.

The suggestion of the report in The Herald was that France preferred not to win Saturday's match so they could finish second in the group and get into the half of the draw likely to contain northern hemisphere teams.

Hansen said that for the All Blacks, and his former team Wales for that matter, such manoeuvring would be unthinkable.

"If you're suggesting we might underperform," he said, "we'd get hung from the highest tree in New Zealand if we go out and try not to win a Test match, it's just not in our psyche.

"New Zealanders expect the All Blacks to go out and play their best every time they play, and rightly so."

Hansen also said that fly-half Dan Carter was fit to play and that Colin Slade remained the first-choice backup at the number 10 position.

As for Parra, Hansen said the All Blacks would make his first Test start at fly-half as uncomfortable as possible.

"He's playing in a position that internationally is new to him and clearly it would be remiss of us if we didn't pay him some attention," he said.