RUGBY WORLD CUP SEMI-FINALS:FRANCE COACH Marc Lievremont named an unchanged side for the World Cup semi-final against Wales and then warned: "We must not rest on our laurels."
Having been in an apparent state of disarray after losing to Tonga in the pool stages, France pulled out their best performance of the World Cup to beat England 19-12 last weekend.
Les Bleus also go into Saturday’s showdown knowing they have beaten Wales in each of their last three encounters, including a comfortable victory in this year’s Six Nations.
But Lievremont knows from first-hand experience the dangers of dwelling on past results and performances.
The last of his 25 caps was in the 1999 World Cup final defeat to Australia, a week after Les Bleus had shocked New Zealand at Twickenham.
France are bidding to avoid a third consecutive World Cup semi-final defeat.
“In the last three years we have managed to beat Wales, but if we start looking at it from that angle, it’s a recipe for disaster,” Lievremont said.
“The risk in rugby is always that you can rest on our laurels. (In 1999) we kept looking back to our victory in the semi-final and struggled to focus ahead of us on the final. Australia were programmed to win that final and they made us pay a heavy price.
“We mustn’t rest on our laurels. Getting to the semi-final is a very big deal and I’m very happy with the performance of my players. As you may have noticed after the last match, there was no extreme euphoria, the players began straight away focusing on the rest of the tournament.
“What we need now is to keep concentrated, to remain aggressive. Obviously we have to play a lot better.”
Lievremont has named the most experienced French side since their semi-final defeat to England in Paris four years ago, with the team boasting a total of 687 caps.
Francois Trinh-Duc came off the bench to steer France to victory over England but has again been included among the replacements as Lievremont opted for an unchanged starting line-up.
Dimitri Yachvili has deep bruising to his thigh and will not train until tomorrow, but Lievremont insisted his scrumhalf general would be fit.
France also named an unchanged team for their 2007 semi-final having just beaten New Zealand, which proved to be the wrong decision as England won a battle of attrition in Paris to reach the final.
Lievremont is confident his squad are able to handle the physical demands of back-to-back knockout games.
“In 2007 it was different,” he said. “The intensity was incredible against the All Blacks in the quarter-final. After talking about it with more senior players, there was also a certain loss of concentration following the euphoria.
“It is very difficult not to select the same team that proved itself. We are confident but we are not overly confident either.”
France take on Wales in Auckland on Saturday (kick-off 9am Irish-time), while, the following day at the same venue and same kick-off time, New Zealand meet Australia.
