The big game is finally here...
New Zealand seems impelled by history toward its second Rugby World Cup, carried on its tide toward a final against France which offers the hope of atonement to a nation which has waited 24 years for a second title.
On the same ground where it won the first World Cup in 1987 and against the same country - a team described by star All Blacks playmaker Dan Carter as its "arch-nemesis" - New Zealand will attempt Sunday to bring to an end a painful history of World Cup favoritism and failure.
Flanker Richie McCaw, New Zealand's most-capped player, hopes to become the first All Blacks captain since David Kirk to lift the Webb Ellis Cup for an Eden Park crowd.
The All Blacks entered this tournament as favorite, as they have done in almost every World Cup since the first event which they conceived and hosted and which they won with such ease that a notion seemed to enter into the minds of Kiwis that the Cup belonged to New Zealand almost as a legacy.
As each intervening tournament passed without success - with high expectations, favouritism and dashed hopes - the optimism of New Zealanders turned to silent pessimism, cynicism, then despair that no-matter how well-planned, every All Blacks World Cup campaign was doomed to failure.
Now, with the All Blacks in a home final and facing a French team which comes into the decider in unimpressive form, New Zealanders have allowed themselves to feel optimism again.
The All Blacks are ranked No. 1 in the world, and their favouritism has grown with every step of a carefully planned and well-executed campaign.
New Zealand has comfortably won all of it matches, by margins in pool play of up to 76 points, and have turned aside Argentina and Australia in its quarterfinal and semifinals with relative ease.
The 20-6 semifinal win over archrival and No. 2-ranked Australia added the last capping stone to the edifice of New Zealanders' confidence.
They were left with no choice but to believe that the All Blacks – who have scored 10 tries and more than 70 points more than any other team at the tournament - are now all but certain to succeed. New Zealand's state betting agency has the French at odds of 7-to-1 in Sunday's final. The All Blacks are at almost unbackable odds.
A faint sense of unease remains around the fact that only France stands between New Zealand and its second victory in three World Cup finals appearances. France has twice beaten New Zealand in World Cup knockout rounds and Kiwis would feel more confidence if the All Blacks were to face any other team.
France's campaign has been so dysfunctional, it's form so continuously poor - two losses in pool play including a 37-17 loss to the All Blacks; an 9-8 semifinal won over 14-man Wales - that a French victory is seen as almost inconceivable.
But France will try to use its status as an underdog, the almost insulting dismissal of its chances, as motivation for Sunday's final. Even impartial commentators say New Zealand not only should win but deserves to win.
"I have been with these guys for a long time and although they might be ranked the leading team in the world, they have never been world champions," All Blacks coach Graham Henry said. "So for Richie (McCaw) and the boys it would be fabulous. You don't deserve that title until you do the job, but I think they are good enough."
McCaw still found time to warn on the eve of the match that nothing is ever guaranteed.
"We've given ourselves a chance, two teams are on the startline and it's making the most of that," he said. "For me it's not about personal stuff.
It's this team having an opportunity and not wasting it, going out and playing the best game they've every played in a World Cup final. That's the opportunity that's there and from our point of view we don't want to let that slip by."
France are not without individual stars. McCaw rates very highly the French flanker and captain Thierry Dusautoir and the other members of its looseforward trio Imanol Harinordoquy and Julien Bonnaire. The All Blacks have spoken all week about the strength of the French pack, billing the final as the clash of the two best scrums at the tournament.
Props Nicolas Mas and Jean-Baptiste Poux, with hooker William Servat, form the basis of a tight five which is highly competitive in set pieces.
The French backs have been less impressive. They have a good decision-maker in Dimitri Yashvilli at scrumhalf and Morgan Parra has coped well with his move to flyhalf. But the French backline has functioned only adequately in its Cup campaign so far, scoring 15 tries while New Zealand has scored 39.
New Zealand's backline, in contrast, has been the best at the tournament, continuing to function at the highest level even when injury robbed the All Blacks of their star playmaker, Carter. The 22-year-old rookie Aaron Cruden eventually stepped into to Carter's boots and kept the backline humming behind a dominant pack. Its back-three, Cory Jane, Richard Kahui and Israel Dagg have been collectively outstanding.
The weight of probability says New Zealand will win on Sunday but France still dares to dream.
"I have always maintained that France could make the World Cup final," Dusautoir said. "We didn't choose the easiest path, but we're here now and have to make the most of it."
Rugby World Cup Final Capsule
New Zealand (1) vs. France (3), Auckland, New Zealand, Sunday 0800 GMT
Road to the Final
New Zealand
W Tonga 41-10
W Japan 83-7
W France 37-17
W Canada 79-15 (1st Pool A)
W Argentina 33-10 (QF)
W Australia 20-6 (SF)
France
W Japan 47-21
W Canada 46-19
L New Zealand 37-17
L Tonga 19-14 (2nd Pool A)
W England 19-12 (QF)
W Wales 9-8 (SF)
Recent Matchups
New Zealand 42, France 11, Auckland, 2007
New Zealand 61, France 10, Wellington, 2007
France 20, New Zealand 18, Cardiff, 2007
France 27, New Zealand 22, Dunedin, 2009
New Zealand 14, France 10, Wellington, 2009
New Zealand 39, France 12, Marseille, 2009
New Zealand 37, France 17, Auckland, 2011
World Cup Matchups
New Zealand 29, France 9, Auckland, 1987 (F)
France 43, New Zealand 31, London, 1999 (SF)
New Zealand 40, France 13, Sydney, 2003 (3rd/4th)
France 20, New Zealand 18, Cardiff, 2007 (QF)
New Zealand 37, France 17, Auckland, 2011
Overall
New Zealand 37, France 12, Drawn 1
Biggest Wins
New Zealand 61, France 10, Wellington, 2007
France 22, New Zealand 8, Christchurch, 1994
Leading World Cup Scorers
New Zealand: Piri Weepu 41. Tries: Israel Dagg 5.
France: Points: Dimitri Yachvili, 39. Tries: Vincent Clerc 6.
Notes
New Zealand won its only World Cup beating France in the 1987 final ... this is the record-tying third final for New Zealand and France, which has yet to win one. France is the first team to reach the final after two pool defeats ... This is their record sixth meeting in the World Cup, and second here ... They have alternated wins in the World Cup, and France has yet to lead New Zealand at halftime ... France is one of only two teams (South Africa) to have beaten the All Blacks in New Zealand in the last eight years... New Zealand has won 16 successive home tests since 2009, and 26 tests at Eden Park since 1994. France was the last team to beat the All Blacks on Eden Park, in June 1994 ... Both teams have unchanged starting lineups from the semifinals ... New Zealand's Graham Henry extends his World Cup coaching record to 16 matches ... All Blacks lock Brad Thorn becomes the oldest player to play in the final at 36, surpassing England's Mike Catt in 2007 ... Hooker Keven Mealamu's 92nd test will equal the All Blacks record for most caps by a hooker, held by Sean Fitzpatrick from the 1987 champion side. Mealamu also joins Fitzpatrick as the third most-capped All Blacks.
Dusautoir needs to find right words before final
Even the usually reserved Thierry Dusautoir doesn't expect to have any trouble finding the right words to motivate his French squad before the Rugby World Cup final against New Zealand.
Mild-mannered and self-effacing, Dusautoir is not one for rousing speeches. His way of functioning as France captain is action rather than words - more tackles than tirades and discreet efficiency over exuberance.
Dusautoir expects the French dressing room to be a tense place on Sunday night as he encourages the players to dig deep and find the mental strength they will need to overcome the odds and beat the All Blacks.
Dusautoir says "I think the words will spill out on their own" because "the desire is there, the anticipation is there."
New Zealand hopes long World Cup wait will end
When it emerged in the hectic buildup to Sunday's Rugby World Cup final between New Zealand and France that city officials in Auckland were already planning a tickertape parade for the victorious All Blacks, 4.5 million New Zealanders touched wood.
The officials were only being prudent. If New Zealand beats France on Sunday to win the World Cup for the first time in 24 years, a victory celebration will be expected and tickertape parades don't plan themselves.
But for this nation of 4.5 million - 1.5 million of whom weren't born when New Zealand last won the Rugby World Cup - planning a parade before the final against the French seemed an act of almost reckless presumption. When you've waited as long as New Zealand has for a World Cup victory, you don't tempt fate.
AP