Head-to-head: Carter v Michalak

Many have said that France are the banana skin that awaits New Zealand and their comments can be justified by looking at previous World Cup encounters. It was France who knocked the All Blacks out in the semifinal of the 1999 tournament in England and repeated that feat in the quarterfinals of the 2007 edition in Cardiff.

The All Blacks have had success against the French at previous World Cups – 1987, 2003 and on two occasions in 2011 – but that was all in the Southern Hemisphere.

Before we get into how much of an impact those results and stats will have in their upcoming knock-out match, let's have a look at how the two flyhalves stack up against each other.

Carter and Michalak have had some classic contests over the years and each brings something different to the party, however, former Springbok flyhalf Braam van Straaten – who remains involved in the game through coaching a number of kickers throughout the world via an online platform – believes Carter has the edge.

"Dan Carter has shown that he is back to form. He has been kicking really well, conducting plays really well and has been very accurate in how he exits his own 22 and kicking out of hand. At the moment, I believe he is the best flyhalf in the world.

"Carter has a natural understanding of when to take the ball flat and when to take it a little deeper. It's a feature of his game that he understands – when to put the inside defenders under pressure and when it's out wide. He has that down to a dime and that's why he looks so comfortable on the ball and doesn't seem rushed until he takes it on.

"When he takes it on, he still has that explosiveness about him in taking the ball to the line. The defenders in the first, second and third channel needs to be aware that he will take you on if your body language or positional play is not good," van Straaten told rugby365.

Van Straaten added that Michalak may not have been at his best thus far but his calming presence has given the French something different.

"Freddie brings a bit of calmness to the French side and I don't think he is at the peak of his game but he has a lot of experience. You need guys like him in the tight games and this will be a very tight game. France never had the best game against Ireland but they were physical and had the Irish under the pump. One or two things never went their way but the French loves to play against the All Blacks and Michalak will give them the calmness they need.  

"France have been under severe pressure in their pool matches with everybody employing the rush defence and that is why Freddie has been quite lateral. He forces when he takes it to the line because when you are lateral, all you see is a line. You can't see what happens in the defensive line and what they are doing," he added.

The French No.10 is not remembered with any fondness by the All Blacks, as it was his forward pass – infamously missed by referee Wayne Barnes – that led to a Yannick Jauzion try which knocked the pre-tournament favourites out of the 2007 tournament.

"When they [New Zealand] lost in 2007, there was a forward pass and a couple of bad calls and these days, you don't get those bad calls anymore because the TMO has so many rights," the former Bok pivot stated.

"I don't think it's going to be a game where they will carry the ball a lot and have a lot of phases. I think New Zealand will kick on their own terms, which makes them a good kicking side. So it will be very interesting to see how the match-ups are going to be held because getting momentum from their forwards is all that inside backs need to be quite dangerous."

New Zealand heads into the match as the overwhelming favourites because of their all-round game and game breakers throughout the park.

"I think the All Blacks will be too strong for them and their all-round game will put them under severe pressure that will test them in every aspect of the game. I believe France will be up for the first half but the All Blacks will be technically too good.

"They haven't hit their straps just yet in the World Cup but come play-off time, you will see a different All Blacks side. New Zealand will have the edge because of their ability to create scoring opportunities. They have some incredible game breakers and if you look at France, they don't have that. That tells me that NZ will probably beat France by between 15 and 20 points," he said.

So how do they shape up?

Here are some key statistics!

Dan Carter

Played 80 minutes in the 26-16 win over Argentina

Did not play in the 58-14 win over Namibia

Played 80 minutes in the 43-10 win over Georgia

Played 80 minutes in the 47-9 win over Tonga

Full name: Daniel William Carter

Date of birth: 5 March 1982 (age 33)

Place of birth: Southbridge, New Zealand

Height: 1.78m

Weight: 96kg

Frederic Michalak

Played 76 minutes in the 32-10 win over Italy

Did not play in the 38-11 win over Romania

Played 68 minutes in the 41-18 win over Canada

Played 55 minutes in the 9-24 loss to Ireland

Full name: Frederic Michalak

Date of birth: 16 October 1982 (age 32)

Place of birth: Toulouse, France

Height: 1.80m

Weight: 87kg

By Tauriq Ebrahim

@Tauriq365

@rugby365com

Statistics courtesy of @rugbyworldcup