The defeat of the All Blacks by the French was a masterful display on the field, but also a dramatic demonstration of the importance of the coaching, especially with regard to psychological preparation and working the momentum. Here are the five aspects that grabbed my attention during this match:

1. The beginning. Coming in the aftermath of England's improbable victory over the Wallabies, one could imagine that Bernard Laporte (France's coach) spoke about repeating the "impossible." If not, there was definitely something in the air.  As the All Blacks did their haka, albeit dressed in an unsightly grey uniform, the French lined up in front defiantly. The moment that caught my attention was when Lionel Beauxis, at the very end of the haka, just lifted his head slightly with a wry smile, as if to say "we'll see about that".  There was a confidence in the French team's eyes (note Sébastien Chabal's posture as well). Laporte's words in the locker room surely helped to give the French a solid constitution.

2. The All Blacks' over-confidence. There was a palpable sense that the All Blacks were over-confident and their coach surely did not manage to contain this sentiment. After a dominating first half in which they led by 13-0 at one point, NZ just seemed to lay off the pedal. France managed to get on the scoreboard in the dying seconds of the first half and that obviously played an important part in changing the momentum. A symbolic moment that underscored that over-confidence was after a poor punt by Dan Carter in the second half. Carter smiled as the kick barely made any progress up the field as the ball was mis-kicked off the outside of his foot. It was a smile as if to say, ''sorry lads, but don't worry. We're up by too much to fret over such a mistake''. Considering Carter's two missed drop kicks and conversion, there wasn't much to smile about later.
 
3. The substitutes. There was no doubt that the arrival of fresh, fleet-of-foot (Frédéric Michalak) and power (Chabal) substitutes gave the French the advantage in the second half. Despite a reversal of fortune where the Blacks scored again to re-take the lead 18-13 in the 63rd minute, the French substitutes made their mark to greater effect.  Michalak’s fresh-legged, 40-metre sprint down the left in the 68th minute before handing off to Yannick Jauzion was decisive and in a match of this level, the devil was in the detail.

‘The most impressive statistic in a wholly amazing defensive exploit was that France conceded just two penalties throughout the match.’

4. The real coup de grâce: France’s defensive posture. To some degree, it was a strategy taken out of a martial-arts class. Use their force to your advantage. Since something like 80 percent of the All Blacks' points were scored on the counter-attack, the solution seemed to be to always allow them to have the ball. Of course, this is a fairly twisted concept. If taken to the extreme, it would have meant that the French purposefully lost the balls in set plays! Yet, in the facts, it meant that France ended up having to tackle the All Blacks 178 times in the match (the tackle stats were quite revealing: 36 out of 47 for the All Blacks (they missed 24 percent) while Les Bleus achieved a 90 percent success rate). But the most impressive statistic in a wholly amazing defensive exploit was that France conceded just two penalties throughout the match. Giving away a frivolous penalty is a surefire way to kill any momentum swing in your favour. And the French discipline helped them in this regard.

5. No All Black punchline. For what at times seemed never ending, the All Blacks created a decadent number of phase balls that just didn’t produce results. The five-minute pack attack by the Blacks at the French line when Luke McAlister was sin-binned in the second half was brilliant tactically (because it kept the ball away from their weakened three-quarters), but the pressure just didn't result in the necessary goods. The All Blacks’ domination was quite comprehensive (possession 71 percent and in French territory 63 percent). And yet, there just wasn't enough flair to help them over the goal line or provoke a penalty. It was as if they were happy to play ball, rather than score. A fatal error.

History had its place in the lead-up to the game even if many of the players did not compete in the last World Cup, much less the game in 1999. The weight of the national history is deeply impregnated in both teams. Everyone was aware of the 1999 come-from-behind victory by the French which came after their loss in the 1987 finals. In 2003, NZ pummelled France 40-13 in the third place play-off. There is a cycle here: was France's win thus on the cards? In the end, it all came down to key performances when the time counted.