France coach Lievremont eyes splendid end to tests

By Jean-Paul Couret

MARCOUSSIS, France (Reuters) - The wins over world champions South Africa and Samoa have sharpened the ambitions of France coach Marc Lievremont who is now eyeing a victory over New Zealand on Saturday in Marseille.

"To win that game would really be splendid, huge," he told journalists on Thursday at the France training camp in Marcoussis.

"To end this tour unbeaten after defeating twice the number one team in the world, South Africa first and then New Zealand who had just recovered top spot, would be an exceptional feat for our young team. I think we can do it," he added.

The French coach, however, acknowledged the task would be difficult because the All Blacks were also approaching the game as "the summit of their European tour".

"Saturday's test is their last game of the season. They are unbeaten so far in their tour but they know that this is the game that will count to assess their performance," he said.

"It's also our last meeting scheduled before we face each other in the group phase of the 2011 World Cup and they will be out for revenge after we defeated them in Dunedin, last June."

Lievremont said he had told his players to go into the game with all due respect for the All Blacks but not to "watch them play and place them on a pedestal".

"They have proven through their wins over Wales, Italy and England they are again the best team in the world and they have recovered their ambitions and their game after the return of their captain Richie McCaw and their playmaker Dan Carter," he added.

"We cannot rely on the surprise factor which helped us in Dunedin. They will field a different and more coherent team and they have seen what we did to the Springboks but I hope we will be able to compete with them."