L'Horizon est noir ran a headline in L'Equipe after the weekend confirmed their quarter-final fate, and the French countenance was grim as they began their comparatively small-scale trek to a comparatively cloudy, chilly Cardiff for Saturday's rendezvous with the All Blacks.

The sense of foreboding about facing tournament favourites who have beaten them, often handsomely, in their last seven clashes, is matched only by the belated outrage at the hosts having to play a quarter-final in Wales.

Clearly, for all the warnings about the Pool of Death, and even despite the opening defeat to Argentina, only now that it has come to pass have the French public and media started to vent their anger at their own Federation and the IRB for this eventuality.

Sadly, they even clung to the hope that a thoroughly out of sorts Ireland might do them a favour in Paris last Sunday, witness the extraordinary TV audience of 6.9 million for that game after the 9.5 million who watched France v Georgia two hours beforehand on Sunday.

Their mood hasn't been helped by the news that 68,000 tickets of the Millennium Stadium's 74,500 capacity have been taken up, no doubt not helped by thousands of Irish declining to take up their successful application for tickets to spend a weekend by the river Taff.

Bernard Laporte has insisted that in his efforts to de-mystify the All Blacks he will henceforth only call them New Zealand - a ruse which if anything will only motivate their opponents more.

Asked how he feels ahead of the game, the French coach said: "Not bad. We're getting ready to play the strongest team in the world. You can't hide from the fact, but we're neither worried nor resigned to our fate."

Laporte showed his readiness for a proposed career in politics by spinning this game as just a detour en route to their stated objective of winning the World Cup. "To do that we have to win three more matches. In any case we would have had to play New Zealand at one stage or another. The way I look at it, it's the same as having to play Australia in the quarter-finals."

If France lose on Saturday, he at least conceded: "Well, it's quite clear, we will have failed," but talked up the mood in his squad. "We all pulled together after the Argentina match. Moreover, we knew it would only get more difficult. I sense a great motivation, a great determination amongst the players."

Laporte unveils his hand tomorrow, with French journalists completely at odds as to what team he will pick.

There is speculation that Lionel Beauxis will start at outhalf ahead of Frederic Michalak, all the more so as the latter will have to cover scrumhalf in the absence of the injured Pierre Mignoni, that Remy Martin will return to the back-row, Yannick Jauzion will remain at inside centre, but all manner of permutations in the back three.

"We won't change everything, but we can select a team that we have never picked before," said Laporte enigmatically, hinting at a new Jean-Baptiste Elissalde-Beauxis partnership.

Even more disquieting than the appointment of 28-year-old semi-retired English barrister Wayne Barnes as referee for a game that would have been fit to grace the final, is the news that France have won the toss for choice of jerseys.

Hence, the All Blacks are set to wear their decidedly dodgy-looking predominantly grey second strip which clashed with Scotland's eye-sore redesigned Canterbury strip in the pool stages.

This at least gives credence to Laporte's refusal to call them the All Blacks, although arguably New Zealand's changed strip will clash just as much with the newly designed French jersey - great with jeans and more of a fashion top really - than their traditional garb would have done.

A more obvious alternative would have been for France to wear their changed white jerseys, which at least has some history attached to it, but Laporte and the French are hardly likely to budge on this one. So it may be that New Zealand will have to come up with a third jersey.

Fittingly of course, in this 2007 World Cup where milking the punters to part with their hard-earned for replica jerseys is de rigeur, it's all about the wonga.