New Zealand's All Blacks take on France

AP - Keep hold of the ball and avoiding panicky kicking. That is how France coach Marc Lievremont wants his players to perform against New Zealand in Saturday’s Rugby World Cup match, or risk a thrashing.

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Easier said than done, especially when France struggled to keep possession against weaker teams, Japan and Canada, let alone opponents Lievremont himself calls “probably the best team in the world.”

Lievremont says “what would be suicidal for us would be to lose too many balls” because “the All Blacks feed of this and excel in the turnovers and the counterattacks.”

France, however, has eliminated the All Blacks from two of the last three World Cups, and Lievremont says “French teams have managed to surpass themselves” against the All Blacks.