Never a dull moment with England v France

English-French rivalries go back a long way, and while they have not always been confined to sporting arenas in the past, they will be on Saturday when the old foes do battle in the quarter-finals of Rugby World Cup 2011.

That there will be no quarter given, no quarter asked, goes without saying. But will the word "crunch" be applicable when hostilities resume at 20:30 at Eden Park?

It is a label that is routinely applied when the two nations clash in Six Nations rugby, where those meetings are always intense, and the pundits have taken to using it whenever France play England, particularly in the wake of some well-publicised remarks in 1995 from the hard-nosed and outspoken England hooker Brian Moore.

However, the Six Nations and the RWC are very distinct competitions, particularly from the players' point of view.

As England full back Ben Foden put it: "When you play the Six Nations, the difference is you are always guaranteed to play five games and you can win at Six Nations by winning only four of them. At World Cup rugby, you have to win all your games and no team has ever lost in the group stage and gone on to win it."

William Servat, the veteran French hooker, also believes that the annual northern hemisphere tournament holds more "crunch". While he admits that France v England matches are always a little bit special, he believes that this applies "only in the Six Nations. In this case, it's a RWC quarter-final."

Servat was suggesting that the four-yearly, knockout nature of a RWC makes historical rivalries less important, as teams are constantly battling for survival first and foremost.

Playing with pride

So, while there is pressure in both competitions, it is not quite the same sort of pressure.

England's head coach Martin Johnson has his own perspective on the traditional rivalry: "I think when you get to these games you are playing with a huge amount of pride as individuals because you do not become a good player without that. They have pride on their team."

England fly half Toby Flood puts it a little more succinctly: "It is a case of it is the quarter-final and it is France."

For the record, England and France have met 94 times in a rivalry that dates back to the late 19th century, with England winning 51, France 36 and seven draws.

France have a better record over the past decade in Six Nations competition, having won five of the past 10 tournaments compared with England's two, but RWC history is in England's favour.

The teams have met in three RWC knockout matches, with England winning all three, in 1991 (19-10), 2003 (24-7) and 2007 (14-9). The teams also met in the play-off for third place in 1995, with France winning 19-9.

England have won four of their last five Tests against France, with the only defeat coming during France's 2010 Six Nations Grand Slam season, when they beat England 12-10 in Paris.