Prepare for the unthinkable

France’s defeat against Argentina in the opening game of the Coupe du Monde sent out shock waves that were most keenly felt at the incongruously named Palm Beach Hotel in Corniche Kennedy in Marseille.

Watching, at their hotel on the Mediterranean, the Pumas’ up-and-unders unsettling Les Bleus were a group of men who tend to dress in black – Graham Henry, Richie McCaw and the rest of New Zealand’s team.

The All Blacks were due to play the hapless Italians in the second game of the tournament the following afternoon but you can be sure that France’s tame demise would have caused hairline cracks in their confident façade.

Even more than the distraught French it was definitely not the result the All Blacks would have been expecting.

As almost certain winners of pool C the All Blacks’ route to the Final is a quarterfinal against the runner-up in pool D – and there is little doubt that Henry and Co would have been preparing to play either Ireland or Argentina; confidently expecting the Tricolores to top their pool.

But then the Pumas produced the greatest moment in their rugby history and threw the All Blacks’ well-laid plans out of kilter.

The new scenario is not nearly as favourable for the All Blacks, for if the French were to finish second in their pool (heaven forbid that they fail to qualify) it will provide the most bizarre of situations – a quarterfinal between France and New Zealand at Cardiff’s Millennium Stadium on October 6.

It is the only playoff match outside France and with memories of their famous (or infamous depending on your allegiance) implosion against Les Bleus at Twickenham in 1999 still raw the All Blacks will not relish having to travel to face a team hell bent on victory to ensure that they remain alive in their World Cup.

An added irony of the draw is, of course, that the All Blacks also have to travel to Murrayfield in Edinburgh to play Scotland in one of their pool matches.

Of course France might yet top their pool, especially as the Super 14 system of bonus points is in place in the World Cup for the first time, but by going down to Argentina they have brought into play any number of permutations – from topping the pool on points difference to failing to qualify.

Pool D was always described as the “pool of death” and the shock defeat of France means that the clashes between the hosts and Ireland, unsurprisingly at the Stade de France on September 23, and Ireland and Argentina, on the last day of pool play on September 30 and effectively to decide which of them goes through to the last eight, are going to be nothing short of titanic.

And the team watching most closely will be the All Blacks – especially as they will not strike a real test until this juncture – because however confident they might be feeling they will not want to be playing France in Cardiff.

The Springboks, too, will be affected by the wrangling in pool D because while logic dictated they should expect to play France in their semifinal they might now end up being up against Argentina or Ireland.

This journal from La Planéte Oval is being dispatched after the first weekend and after eight matches have already been played and already three themes have emerged – the seeming limitations of the northern hemisphere countries, the spate of tournament-terminating injuries and the awful standard of refereeing.

But there’s an upside: France's FIFA World Cup win in 1998, and their European Championships victory two years later, confirmed its status as a generally football-loving country. But that could be changing if TV viewing figures from French paper Aujourd'hui en France are anything to go by.

The RWC 2007 opener against Argentina on Friday was watched by 14 million French, while the football team's European Championship qualifier against Italy - a replay of last year's Fifa World Cup Final - attracted just 9.2 million viewers.

Hospitable French: They’ve even named a Metro station after Jonny Wilkinson - Invalides! And also one that drew mutterings from the late-night Metro crowd returning from Stade de France last Friday when it hove into view Argentine.

Philosophical French: “To love Rugby you have to believe in extraordinary tales that begin with the words “Once upon a time…”; to believe in legends and that magical quality that rubs off on anyone involved in the game and remains when all else has gone.

“To love Rugby you must pass time on as it passes by. Through your faith in others you may doubt yourself, but to build the future you must believe in the past and dream of what lies ahead.

“To love Rugby you must be passionate, because only those with passion have the power to captivate, to inspire, to excite. Rugby is a sport of excess played by people who know no limits, an essential quality that must be indulged, excessively.

To love Rugby you must be the maddest hatter and the wisest philosopher all rolled into one. Rugby turns boys into men and helps men remain boys.

To love Rugby you must be fully involved in the life that revolves around that funny-shaped ball, a ball that bounces in all directions. And when time dictates that you hang up your boots for once and for all, keep your stories and a few surprises; children love that.

The little boy Jasper found a bag with a rugby ball in it and when he saw it bouncing for the first time he said, “Look at that ball. It’s mad!” So are we, Jasper. So are we.” – Jean-Pierre Rives in a message in the brochure explaining the opening ceremony, Cérémonie D’Ouverture, entitled “Passing on Rugby’s heritage.” Jasper is his son.

Arrogant French: Going into the opening game with an oddly selected side plus tempting fate by appearing in a World Cup jersey that is a good few shades darker than their normal “bleu.”

Capricious French: Turning on the Boks and vociferously supporting Samoa with chants of “Allez les Bleu!” Fortunately none such thing will happen when the Boks play England on Friday – unless of course, as happened in Perth in 2003, the stadium has been sold out to England supporters; who will arrive in droves, especially now that the EuroRail bullet train is as fast on their side of the channel as it has always been in France.

One-upmanship: As powerful statements go you would have to go some to beat the one by the All Blacks on La Grande Arche, the giant arch-shaped office block in the commercial hub of La Défense which was erected as a modern reflection of the famous Arc de Triomphe. Emerging from the underground Metro commuters are overwhelmed by giant projected pictures of Richie McCaw and Joe Rokocoko, covering the entire façades of the two legs of the building with the legend, “Impossible is Nothing,” running along the top.