Every man and his chien may give France no chance in next Sunday's World Cup final, but the All Blacks say they won't be falling into the trap of underestimating Marc Lievremont's unpredictable side.



The All Blacks will be at almost unbackable odds to secure their second World Cup triumph after they squeezed the life out of Australia 20-6 in last night's second semifinal at Eden Park.



Compared with the fortuitous and tradesmanlike 9-8 French victory a night earlier over a Welsh side down to 14 men for over three-quarters of the contest, the New Zealanders' effort was sublime.



Though the Australians took some subduing, the All Blacks dominated a contest they led 14-6 at the break. The New Zealanders smashed them at the scrum and breakdown, won the kicking and territorial battle and handled with ease the prolonged Wallaby tactic of peppering their back three with high balls.



On the other hand the Wallabies were shaky receiving under pressure, and their own kicking game was as wayward as it was one-dimensional. They had no luck penetrating the rock-solid All Black defence either, with Ma'a Nonu scoring the game's only try in the first half via a little bit of Israel Dagg magic.



But All Blacks assistant coach Steve Hansen said there was no chance of his men failing to recognise the danger that France pose next Sunday.



''Of all the teams that we know we should never underestimate we've had history with them, so that won't be a problem,'' said Hansen. ''The issue will be making sure we don't overcook them. We've got to make sure we prepare well and get the clarity right so we can have that intensity and accuracy like we had tonight.''



Coach Graham Henry also indicated that the French would get the full respect treatment, never mind their bumbling display against the undermanned Welsh.



''We've just got to make sure we come down from this game first, and that's going to take a couple of days. It's a huge game of rugby. We've got a lot of history with France at the Rugby World Cup and we respect them.



''It will be another big game next week.''



French manager Jo Maso has already said that no matter what happens at the coin-toss for ''home'' rights, the French will allow the All Blacks to wear their black jerseys in the final. Henry appreciated the gesture.



''We're playing at home, playing at Eden Park, we're the All Blacks and we wear black, so I think that's a good gesture by Jo. It's an obvious gesture too but good on them.''



The All Blacks seem to have come through a physical semifinal without serious injury, with Ma'a Nonu's neck spasm possibly the most serious of the knocks.



The measured and clinical way the All Blacks went about their victory over the Australians indicated this New Zealand side was much better prepared to deal with the big moments of finals football as they presented.



''We've been way better prepared for this tournament than we were last,'' said Hansen. ''We learnt a lot of lessons and those lessons have paid dividends over the past couple of weeks.



''We go into the final now, it's a two-horse race, and the team that plays best on the night gets the chocolates. We've just got to make sure we prepare with genuine quality and mentally get to the places we need get to and make sure we get the job done.''



Hansen also indicated the pack, who laid the foundations for victory last night, would be equally important next week against the quality French eight.



Prop Owen Franks had played, reckoned Hansen, the best test of his career, Brad Thorn was also close to his very best, the scrum had been superb as a unit and the loose trio had been able to edge the Australians in the all-important breakdown battle.



''We're building,'' said Hansen. ''We knew we needed to play really well tonight against a good side. We'll enjoy that but we need to get our feet back on the ground pretty early in the week because we're going to have to do the same again next week otherwise we'll run second.''



The All Blacks seem way too focused to give the French anything but their full respect. That much was made more than clear by skipper Richie McCaw.



''They'll back themselves, so she's all on,'' said the New Zealand No 7. ''There's a lot of respect with the French, we've had some good times playing against them and some not so good times.



''We've got a lot of respect for the way they go about their rugby. It will be pretty easy for the boys to get their feet on ground and get ready for next week.''

1 of 32 FIONA GOODALL/Fairfax Media The All Blacks celebrate their win over Australia. 2 of 32 IAIN MCGREGOR/Fairfax Media All Black halfback Piri Weepu kicks a penalty. 3 of 32 JASON OXENHAM/Fairfax Media The All Blacks celebrate a scrum penalty. 4 of 32 JASON OXENHAM/Fairfax Media All Black first-five Aaron Cruden recieves a high five from teammate Brad Thorn. 5 of 32 JASON OXENHAM/Fairfax Media All Black lock Brad Thorn tackles Australia hooker Stephen Moore. 6 of 32 JASON OXENHAM/Fairfax Media Australia halfback Will Genia on the burst. 7 of 32 MARK TAYLOR/Fairfax Media All Black second-five Ma'a Nonu breaks through a tackle. 8 of 32 LAWRENCE SMITH/Fairfax Media Ma'a Nonu scores the first try of the match for the All Blacks. 9 of 32 LAWRENCE SMITH/Fairfax Media Richie McCaw of New Zealand taking on the Australian defence. 10 of 32 Getty Images Quade Cooper of the Wallabies kicks a drop goal . 11 of 32 Getty Images Flyhalf Quade Cooper of the Wallabies is tackled by Conrad Smith of the All Blacks. 12 of 32 Reuters New Zealand All Blacks' Piri Weepu attempts a penalty. 13 of 32 Getty Images Ma'a Nonu of the All Blacks slides over to score the opening try of the match. 14 of 32 IAIN MCGREGOR/Fairfax Media All Black left wing Richard Kahui tackles Australia first-five Quade Cooper. 15 of 32 PETER MEECHAM/Fairfax Media All Black hooker Keven Mealamu taking the ball forward. 16 of 32 JOHN SELKIRK/Fairfax Media All Black first-five Aaron Cruden kicks a drop goal. 17 of 32 PETER MEECHAM/Fairfax Media All Black captain Richie McCaw crashes through Australia no.8 Radike Samo and halfback Will Genia. 18 of 32 LAWRENCE SMITH/Fairfax Media Isreal Dagg celebrates with his teammates after he supplied Ma'a Nonu with the first try of the match. 19 of 32 Getty Images Fullback Israel Dagg of the All Blacks makes a break. 20 of 32 MARK TAYLOR/Fairfax Media New Zealand's Isreal Dagg passes to Ma'a Nonu as he is tackled by Quade Cooper of Australia. 21 of 32 Getty Images The All Blacks perform their pre-match haka. 22 of 32 PETER MEECHAM/Fairfax Media New Zealand and Australia are called onto the field by Maori warriors. 23 of 32 Reuters Members of the New Zealand Army Band perform the Haka. 24 of 32 FIONA GOODALL/Fairfax Media All Black coach Graham Henry checks out eden park before the game. 25 of 32 Getty Images Robbie Deans the head coach of the Wallabies looks on prior to the match. 26 of 32 IAIN MCGREGOR/Fairfax Media An All Blacks fan at Eden Park showing support. 27 of 32 FIONA GOODALL/Fairfax Media Wallabies supporters at Eden Park. 28 of 32 FIONA GOODALL/Fairfax Media A young All Blacks supporter enjoying the atmosphere at Eden Park. 29 of 32 Reuters A young All Blacks supporter waits for the game to start. 30 of 32 FIONA GOODALL/Fairfax Media All Black captain Richie McCaw checks out eden park. 31 of 32 FIONA GOODALL/Fairfax Media All Blacks fans enjoy the atmosphere at Eden Park. 32 of 32 Reuters All Blacks supporters at Eden Park.