The final against France is Sunday.

The host nation was on a knife edge all of last week, anxious that the All Blacks’ World Cup drought might be extended with another semifinal loss to Australia.

The All Blacks-Wallabies semifinal was built up as the de facto final, as it pitted the world’s No. 1 and 2 teams together in a clash that was too close to call.

So there was a collective sigh of relief as New Zealand pummeled Australia 20-6 last Sunday.

Since then, high anxiety has been succeeded by easy confidence, especially after a sluggish France barely beat a 14-man Wales 9-8 in the first semifinal. The All Blacks also pounded France 37-17 in the pool stage, giving their fans supreme belief that World Cup victory was a given this weekend.

On Tuesday, the national betting agency was offering New Zealand to win the final at NZ$1.10 off a NZ$1 bet, while parlaying France at NZ$6.

“I’m not a betting man, but we were maybe paying something similar the last time we lost to them at the World Cup,” center Conrad Smith said. “Everyone’s been writing them off, but if they’re told what (the TAB is) paying, when you’re told that as an athlete your motivation is done for you.”

Smith said the All Blacks, just as they did against Australia, had “an element of fear” of France, simply because the French sensationally knocked out New Zealand in the 1999 semifinals and 2007 quarterfinals.

“We’ve already talked about how good a feeling it was last week and how it’ll count for nothing, no one will remember it, if we don’t do the business this weekend,” Smith said. “We’re proud of how we played last week and we want that feeling again.”

Auckland Council and the New Zealand Rugby Union reflected Kiwis’ growing confidence by quietly planning a victory parade for the All Blacks, the New Zealand Herald reported in Tuesday’s edition.

The paper said the ticker-tape parade was being set up for next Wednesday or Thursday.

That kind of planning has blown up in their faces in the past. Victory parades were also revealed at the latter stages of the 1999 and 2007 World Cups.

“Being overconfident could seep into the bones, into the psyche, of the nation and even the All Blacks,” TV commentator Keith Quinn warned in the Herald.

The All Blacks were doing their best to set aside the plaudits from last Sunday’s impressive win, come back to earth and ask their fans to join them.

All Blacks prop Tony Woodcock, another 2007 veteran, said the team had already discounted the pool win over France.

“The French are very dangerous, they did enough to win against the Welsh and we’re going to have to be very careful because as we know they can pull out a great game,” Woodcock said. “So we need to be on our game. It’s a one-off game, and we’re treating it like that.”

Flanker Jerome Kaino said: “The French and the All Blacks have got a history, that’s what makes this final so dangerous. The French do quite well against the All Blacks in every World Cup, so I think it’s important that we need to really remember that.”