France out for Rugby World Cup 'revenge' after last year's failure

France seek to win title for next World Cup France captain Thierry Dusautoir said the three-time losing finalists were seeking "revenge" for last year's heartbreak as they prepare for the 2015 World Cup in England. The French reached the 2011 World Cup final but lost a hard-fought contest by the narrow margin of 8-7 to hosts New Zealand in Auckland.
But Dusautoir, who led his side superbly during last year's tournament, said France hoped to go one better in England in three years' time after being drawn Monday in a Pool D also featuring Six Nations rivals Ireland and Italy.
"For us maybe we are going to have our revenge for the final against New Zealand," said back-row forward Dusautoir following Monday's draw in London.
The two remaining teams in Pool D will come from either the United States or Canada and one out of emerging European nations Georgia, Russia, Romania, Spain and Portugal.
But all eyes will be on the Six Nations trio who are expected to dominate the fight for the two  quarter-final spots out of Pool D.
And for the winners of this pool there is the added incentive of missing out on a likely quarter-final clash against favourites New Zealand, with Argentina in line to provide the opposition for the table-toppers.
However, then hosts France - despite playing in Cardiff - managed to beat New Zealand 20-18 in a thrilling 2007 quarter-final at the Millennium Stadium.
Even before Monday's draw France, by virtue of being fourth in the International Rugby Board rankings, were among the top four seeds for the 2015 draw and so avoided a pool match against one of the southern hemisphere 'big three' of South Africa, New Zealand and Australia.
By contrast, Six Nations foes England and Wales were drawn in a group with Australia labelled the "pool of death" by France coach Philippe Saint-Andre.
Dusautoir was more than happy with the draw given to France, who lost the inaugural World Cup final 29-9 to New Zealand in Auckland in 1987 and were also beaten 35-12 by Australia in the climax of the 1999 edition in Cardiff.