Rugby World Cup: France's illusion of grandeur is about to be shattered

France's passage to the World Cup final is down to good fortune, pure and simple. When they play the All Blacks on Sunday the illusion that they somehow deserve to be in the final will be emphatically shattered.

Last weekend France were the only semi-final team without a New Zealander as head coach, but you could argue they have no coach at all — not a credible one, anyway. Marc Lievremont has had a shocking World Cup, losing the trust of his players and acting in a distinctly unimpressive manner.

It is striking to look at the television pictures inside the French coaching box as there appears to be no interaction between Lievremont and his colleagues, and the way he scolded his players for going out for some drinks to celebrate making the World Cup final was truly bizarre. If he had not lost his changing room before then, I'm sure he has now.

The players were not training on Sunday and they had to report back to work only on Monday. Lievremont should have trusted them to have a few beers, but he treated them like naughty children and publicly criticised them at a press conference.

At Saracens we picked a group of senior players, called 'shark watchmen', to make sure that nights out never got out of hand. If one player overstepped the line they took him aside and told him to get his act together. That meant, as coaches, we could trust the boys to have a good time while also acting sensibly. Lievremont clearly does not trust his players, and they certainly don't trust him.

Normally, with all the history between the sides, the New Zealanders would have been extremely worried about the prospect of playing their World Cup nemesis in the one match where they cannot afford to choke. But this French team inspires absolutely no confidence. They are an unexceptional team with a very limited game plan.

France's tactical approach to this World Cup has revolved around kicking, with very little penetrative running, and it is almost inconceivable that this brand of rugby will be enough to turn over the All Blacks.

There is, perhaps, just one flicker of hope for the underdogs — the presence of Dimitri Yachvili and Morgan Parra, two of the best goal-kickers in the competition. Neither man has looked like missing many and if the final comes down to a battle of the boot then France would win because Piri Weepu, for all his good work, is not a world-class kicker.

The problem for France is that they will have to put some form of pressure on New Zealand to win the penalties. That means they will need to take the game to them in a way they have not yet done at this World Cup. What they need to do is win what I call 'forced penalties' — penalties won away from the set piece.

The best way for France to win a forced penalty is by putting high balls on the New Zealand back three and trying to force an error in the chase. But wing Cory Jane won the man-of-the-match award for the way he dealt with Australia's tactical kicking in the semi-final, and Israel Dagg has shown what a cool customer he is at the back.

France will know they are the underdogs, and sometimes this can galvanise a team. When I was at London Irish, we played Northampton in the 2002 Powergen Cup final. The Saints had about 14 internationals; we had three. But we took the game to them and won comfortably.

Shocks are always possible, but to pull one off you need to get in your opponents' faces and punch holes in their defence. In this respect, France have got their selection wrong, as Parra is not this type of fly-half. In fact, he is not a fly-half at all, having been switched there from scrum-half.

If Lievremont gets Francois Trinh-Duc on early they have a chance because at least he is a natural fly-half who knows how to get a back line going.

Lievremont will be praying for another early red card, but, in my mind, even that will not be enough. Get New Zealand down to 13 men and France might have a chance; otherwise, it is impossible to look beyond New Zealand.