We had to laugh.

When Jim Fleming, the Scottish referee blew, his whistle at the end of the 1999 Rugby World Cup semi-final between New Zealand and France, there was a brief silence in the Twickenham press box as the magnitude of it all sank in.

We somehow knew, even then, we had just witnessed a game that would come to be ranked among the greatest in the history of the game. But still we had to laugh. What’s that old line about Germans having no word for schadenfreude? Well, New Zealanders don’t quite get the concept either

Why? What had the Kiwis ever done to us? Nothing, as it happens, but there was something richly comic in watching an All Blacks side that so clearly believed they had the World Cup in their grasp being dismembered by a French team’s act of glorious sporting impudence. The All Blacks had rehearsed their script and the French had ripped it to shreds.

That match, more than any other in the long, fierce history of rivalry between France and New Zealand, sounds a cautionary note to anyone who believes that the latter only have to turn up at Eden Park tomorrow to lift the Webb Ellis trophy. Common sense says New Zealand should win the final by 30 points, but in rugby France and common sense don’t mix.

And yet, the misty-eyed remembrance of a match that took place a dozen years ago can too easily ignore the fact France brought more than an insouciant disregard for the game as Anglo Saxons would have it played.

Yes, they played as only France could play, but in recalling the caricature we too easily slip into false memory syndrome. They did not bring berets and onions and packs of Gauloises on to the pitch that day; they brought some seriously good players.

They had misfired through the tournament, but they still had the spine of a great team, and a hard-nosed one, too, with characters such as Raphael Ibanez, Franck Tournaire, Fabien Pelous and Abdel Benazzi in the pack. If they had been introduced as the Devil’s Island escape committee you wouldn’t have raised an eyebrow. Small wonder they got France out of jail.

So what of the France of 2011? They have some grizzled old codgers and the pack can grunt a bit, but can they really stand comparison with the side of 1999? In a word, no. As a firefighter, they have no-one of the stature and influence the great Fabien Galthie exerted at scrum-half when he was buzzing around the base of the French scrum. When the going gets tough, they’re stuffed.

When France had the audacity to think of victory in 1999, they looked up and saw Christian Cullen and Alama Ieremia, one of the weakest centre partnerships New Zealand have ever put together, and duly blasted holes through the middle. Tomorrow, they will see Conrad Smith and Ma’a Nonu, a pair closing in on greatness.

The story is the same all over the pitch. And, curiously enough, it is where they are weakest that you see the strength of this All Blacks side. A few weeks ago, they lost Dan Carter, the best fly-half in the world. Colin Slade, his replacement, lasted only a few nervous minutes before he, too, succumbed to injury. Step forward Aaron Cruden and normal service is resumed.

Step up Piri Weepu as well. He took over Carter’s kicking role, but his instincts told him to take the decision-making burden off young Cruden as well. The wheels simply don’t come off this New Zealand side. Historically, the All Blacks might have choked more often than the Boston Strangler, but it is fearsomely difficult to imagine that they might add another entry to that catalogue of cock-ups.

Not with Richie McCaw there anyway. The performance of the captain in the semi-final victory over Australia was one of the great displays: measured, disciplined and inspired. In a pack that was finding top gear, he was outstanding. Widely recognised as the best rugby player on earth, McCaw has been IRB player of the year the last two seasons, but hasn’t made the shortlist this time. Think he might have a point to prove?

If he does, he’ll put it to the back of his mind tomorrow. There’s a job to be done. The All Blacks have lost three World Cups they should have won at a canter and McCaw, on home soil, is not going to let another one slip.

After 24 years of heartache, this is serious business for New Zealand. That’s the problem with rugby. It’s no laughing matter any more.