To win, or not to win, in World Cup grudge match?

Despite their reputation as an invincible force, hosts the All Blacks have long flattered to deceive on the World Cup stage, and the ever-mercurial Les Bleus have produced some exquisite performances to beat them.

The Kiwis beat their Northern hemisphere enemies in the inaugural tournament – again as hosts – in 1987, but inspired French sides exacted revenge in 1999 and 2007.

Whichever team loses today is likely to come second in Group A, which in turn would potentially mean the prospect of avoiding South Africa or Australia at the semi-final stage, assuming they win their last-eight fixture.

But with a rugby-infatuated nation of home supporters unwilling to contemplate defeat at any stage of the tournament, the All Blacks will field a strong side for the encounter.

The indomitable Richie McCaw (or, if you speak to Australia’s Quade Cooper, abominable) will become the first All Black to earn 100 Test caps when he returns for the clash.

The skipper said: “Well I suppose if you were going to pick a game and an opposition to play your 100th game in, it would probably be a pretty good choice.

“So it’s exciting for a whole host of reasons. So I guess from my point of view, pretty keen to make sure the first thing, the first thing is to make sure the team goes out and performs and we win the game. And you put your personal stuff second to that. But if we get it all right, hopefully it’ll be a good night.”

Meanwhile, star flyhalf and vendor of incendiary, laser-emitting underpants Dan Carter is also back in the side.

But there is no a place in the starting 15 for former rugby league juggernaut and part-time pugilist Sonny Bill Williams, whose centre berth is once again occupied by Ma’a Nonu.

France

Je ne sais quoi is often a term used by criminally lazy sports journalists to describe the French team; seemingly capable of magnificence and ignominity in equal measure.

The saying literally means ‘I know not what’; the very words muttered by French fans when posed with the question: “what madness doth lie in the mind of Marc Leiveremont?”

The popular coach has named scrumhalf Morgan Parra (pictured taking a relaxing bath) at flyhalf, a selection that has exhasperated fans. But Lievremont reiterated on Friday his team’s desire to succeed at a venue the All Blacks were last beaten at 17 years ago.

He also denied claims he had deliberately selected a weakened side to avoid meeting the Springboks or the Wallabies in the knockout phase. And there’s probably a part of him which appreciates the suggestion, in place of the the usual charge that his line-ups are picked with the same randomness of a Heineken Cup draw.

“Not withstanding some of the reports seen in the press, the team really wants to do well in this particular game. It is a really important game for us to win,” Lievremont told a unanimously convinced press conference.

The teams square off at Eden Park in what is effectively a pool A decider with the winner almost certain to top the pool and earn a likely quarter-final against Argentina or Scotland…

New Zealand: Israel Dagg, Cory Jane, Conrad Smith, Ma’a Nonu, Richard Kahui, Daniel Carter, Piri Weepu; Tony Woodcock, Keven Mealamu, Owen Franks, Brad Thorn, Sam Whitelock, Jerome Kaino, Richie McCaw (c), Adam Thomson.
Replacements: Andrew Hore, Ben Franks, Ali Williams, Anthony Boric, Andy Ellis, Colin Slade, Sonny Bill Williams.

France: Damien Traille, Vincent Clerc, Aurelien Rougerie, Maxime Mermoz, Maxime Medard, Morgan Parra, Dimitri Yachvili; Jean-Baptiste Poux, Dimitri Szarzewski, Luc Ducalcon, Pascal Pape, Lionel Nallet, Thierry Dusautoir (captain), Julien Bonnaire, Louis Picamoles.
Replacements: William Servat, Fabien Barcella, Julien Pierre, Imanol Harinordoquy, Francois Trinh-Duc, Fabrice Estebanez, Cedric Heymans.

…who face off on Sunday.

The big news is that half-crocked Pumas captain Felipe Contepomi (pictured, with protective oversized hood) will battle through the pain barrier in Wellington, in a bid to replicate the South Americans’ dispatching of Scotland in the 2007 quarter-finals.

The 34-year-old suffered a rib injury in the opening 13-9 Pool B loss to England, a result which means Argentina must beat Scotland to have any hope of reaching the knockout stages.

A win for Scotland will be a sixth in a row for Andy Robinson’s men – a feat not achieved since the 1989-90 Grand Slam-winning season – and maintain the record of reaching at least the quarter-finals at every World Cup.

And Ruaridh Jackson will be Contepomi’s opposite number, having been handed the key fly-half position ahead of Dan Parks.

Scotland: C Paterson; M Evans, N De Luca, G Morrison, S Lamont; R Jackson, R Lawson (c); A Jacobsen, R Ford, G Cross, R Gray, J Hamilton, A Strokosch, J Barclay, K Brown.
Replacements: D Hall, A Dickinson, N Hines, R Vernon, M Blair, D Parks, S Danielli.

Argentina: M Rodriguez, G Camacho, M Bosch, F Contepomi (capt), H Agulla, S Fernandez, N Vergallo; R Roncero, M Ledesma, J Figallo, M Carizza, P Albacete, J Farias Cabello, JM Leguizamon, JM Fernandez Lobbe.
Replacements: A Creevy, M Scelzo, M Galarza, G Fessia, A Lalanne, L Gonzalez Amorosino, J Imhoff.

Oh, and England, who are beleived to have escaped any punishment (pictured) for their high jinx with dwarves at a nightclub in Queenstown, face minnows Romania.

England: Ben Foden, Chris Ashton, Manu Tuilagi, Mike Tindall, Mark Cueto, Jonny Wilkinson, Ben Youngs, Alex Corbisiero, Steve Thompson , Dan Cole, Louis Deacon, Tom Palmer, Tom Croft, Lewis Moody (c), James Haskell.
Replacements: Lee Mears, David Wilson, Simon Shaw, Tom Wood, Richard Wigglesworth, Toby Flood, Delon Armitage.

Romania: Florin Adrian Vlaicu, Stefan Eugen Ciuntu, Ionel Cazan, Iulian Dumitras, Adrian Marian Apostol, Marin Danut Dumbrava, Lucian Mihai Sirbu; Nicolae Nere, Bogdan Zebega Suman, Silviu Florea, Valentin Poparlan, Cristian Constantin Petre (c), Sandu Stelian Burcea, Cosmin Aurel Ratiu, Ovidiu Tonita.
Replacements: Marius Tincu, Paulica Ion, Mihai Macovei, Daniel Gabriel Ianus, Valentin Nicolae Calafeteanu, Csaba Minya Gal, Catalin Marius Nicolae.