There were several incidents in the bitter 2011 final including the eye-gouging of All Blacks skipper Richie McCaw, who in turn was accused of kneeing French fly-half Morgan Parra in the back.
McCaw later accused the French of getting “filthy” in the tense final won 8-7 by the All Blacks, saying: “The French are worse when they are scared.”
Tension started even before kick-off when Thierry Dusautoir’s fired up French battalion advanced on the All Blacks during the pre-match haka, a protocol breach for which they were later fined.
However, backrower Kieran Read led an All Blacks chorus on Tuesday (Oct 13) that there was no room for off-the-ball manoeuvres and they wanted them kept out of Sunday’s do-or-die clash.
“The game doesn’t need that,” Read said.
“This game’s a great game and we want to showcase the talents we’ve got within. So we’ll play it as hard as we can physically but certainly as fair as we can.
“If teams are going to start doing that then you’ve got to adapt as quickly as you can.”
The most notorious incident in All Blacks-France rugby rivalry came in 1986 in the game now known as the “Battle of Nantes”.
Twenty minutes into the game, All Blacks skipper Wayne “Buck” Shelford had his scrotum ripped open and four teeth knocked out.
Incredibly, Shelford had the injury stitched on the sideline and carried on playing until he was concussed by a blow to the head and could not carry on.
Several years later investigative journalist Pierre Ballester claimed in a book that the French players were on amphetamines at the time.
In the weekend’s other quarter finals, with Ireland reeling from injuries to key players, Argentina can sense an upset in the quarter-final at Cardiff's Millennium Stadium on Sunday. Argentina’s captain Agustin Creevy insists the Pumas have “no limits” at the World Cup.
“I dream of lifting the cup. I don’t know whether it will come true, but I swear I dream about it,” said the 30-year-old Creevy.
Twelve months ago Argentina beat Australia 21-17 at home. It was the last straw in a troubled reign and Wallabies coach Ewan Mackenzie was gone within two weeks.
One month before coming to the World Cup they defeated South Africa for the first time – 37-25 in Durban – forcing Springboks coach Heyneke Meyer to apologise to the nation. He had to repeat it when they lost to Japan at the World Cup.
The Pumas world ranking has gone up in a year from 12 to six, above England and France.
“This team has no limits,” Creevy declared.
“We have made mistakes, we have problems with nerves. But when we are confident, the team plays.
“In the quarter-finals, the team will be hungry, they can overcome those mistakes and we will be triumphant.
“We can reach the top – the semi-finals, the final, be world champions!”
Ireland are holding out hope that injury-hit fly-half Jonny Sexton will be fit for Sunday’s quarter-final against Argentina, according to assistant coach Les Kiss.
Sexton limped off after 25 minutes of Ireland's hard-fought 24-9 victory over France last Sunday, a win that saw them undefeated in Pool D and avoiding a last-eight clash against defending champions New Zealand.
Kiss insisted head coach Joe Schmidt would not be rushed into a decision about picking Sexton, for whom Ian Madigan came on against the French, putting down his own marker with an astute play-making display.
Ahead of South Africa’s quarter-final against Wales at Twickenham on Saturday, they picked up a bonus from England’s World Cup failure – their upmarket Pennyhill Park training base where they have been training in the week running up to the quarter-finals.
Situated in leafy grounds in Bagshot, south-west of London, Pennyhill has been England's training base for about 15 years.
It is a private hotel which accepts guests, but England’s Rugby Football Union have ploughed a reported £3 million into Pennyhill, including installing a state of the art Desso “hybrid” pitch and the latest gym equipment.
But with England becoming the first host nation to fail to go beyond the group phase, following defeats by Wales and Australia, Pennyhill has become a tournament, rather than Red Rose, facility for the remainder of the World Cup.
Seasoned Springbok great Schalk Burger was taken aback by that facility.
“It’s incredible. This media centre is pretty much bigger than my local club back home. It’s unbelievable,” Burger told reporters earlier this week in a cavernous tent located in a corner of the Pennyhill car park.
“Apparently the guys who do the weights say it’s an unbelievable experience," added the veteran back-bow forward.
Springbok prop Tendai Mtawarira confirmed. “I’ve done weights in there. It’s state of the art, the best rugby facility I’ve trained in.”
Burger added, “It’s obviously a pity it’s not being used by England but that is life so we are happy to take this facility and use the best possible,” added the 32-year-old.
Meanwhile, Scotland’s Ross Ford and Jonny Gray are out of the World Cup after being suspended Tuesday for three weeks each for dangerous tackles.
It was the worst possible news for Scotland losing hooker Ford and lock Gray ahead of their quarter-final on Sunday against Australia at Twickenham.
They were cited after Scotland’s final pool match against Samoa.
If Scotland go all the way to the final they only have three matches left.
Both players denied the charge and have 48 hours to appeal.
Details of the specific incidents have not been released, however judicial officer Christopher Quinlan ruled “each player committed an act of foul play contrary to law.
“Tackles involving a player being lifted off the ground and tipped horizontally and were then either forced or dropped to the ground must be dealt with severely by match officials and all those involved in the disciplinary process.”
Ford was accused of a dangerous tackle and Gray was said to have committed an illegal tip tackle during the 36-33 win that secured Scotland's place in the last eight.