All Blacks captain Richie McCaw acknowledged his delight at their record-breaking 62-13 win in their Rugby World Cup quarter-final against France but said all it had done was gain the side another week at the tournament.

They will meet arch-rival South Africa at Twickenham next weekend.

McCaw said the intensity had gone up, the side had talked about that all week in their preparation and it resulted in a clinical performance.

Coach Steve Hansen said the performance had been 'very, very pleasing'. He was also pleased that everyone in the side, from number one to 23 had contributed to the performance.

The side had also managed to get something of a monkey off their back with the comprehensive win at the venue and against the opposition who had denied them at the 2007 quarter-final stage.

Their semi-final opponents, South Africa were a great opposition, he said. The All Blacks enjoy their company and they would enjoy playing them, he said.

First five-eighths Dan Carter, who kicked 17 points in the match, said there was a lot of self-confidence in the side and although they weren't getting the perfect performances ahead of Sunday's game they knew they were building and if they got it all together they were aware of what they were capable of.

"The passes stuck tonight and when the forwards turn up like they did tonight it gives the backs a lot of confidence and the finishers we've got out wide showed their traits tonight," he said.

Carter said the defence was something the team were proud of and keeping the French to one try had been significant. It was all about attitude and the team had the desire.

The French hadn't been able to get their game flowing because of the solid defence that was mustered by the All Blacks, he said.

The win had also reflected the work in squad building that had been going on over the last few years and prop Joe Moody's performance was part of that.

He had achieved slipping into the side seamlessly and played well considering he had only arrived on Monday, Carter said.

Hooker Dane Coles said the side were happy with the step up from pool play.

"We really wanted to make a statement tonight, and I though we did that but there's still a lot of hard work to go. We wanted another week in the tournament and we've done that," he said.

The scrum had produced their best performance and there had been more intent in the pack which was represented by the way players looked to make tackles, Coles said.

Lock Brodie Retallick, who scored the side's opening try as the result of a charge down, said they had talked about charge downs during the week and it had been nice to get one and also the try on the end of it.

"Tonight was probably the first game of this tournament that we have worked as a pack really well and it was pleasing to see," he said.

Retallick said he felt in the dressing room after the last pool game against Tonga that the feeling was building in the side and it had been nice to get a good performance against France, but it wasn't the end for the side.

They had put a line in the sand with the effort and it was a case of getting back to that point, and better in next week's semi-final.