This admiration for the All Blacks was highlighted by backs coach Emile N'Tamack when the French were welcomed at Dunedin Airport yesterday by the RSA Taieri Pipe Band and Otago Rugby Football Union president John Hunter.
"We know that the game will be tough because the All Black team is a legend for the French players. We want just one thing - to make a good, even game," N'Tamack told the Otago Daily Times.
The test series of 1994, when France counterattacked in the final minute to snatch a 23-20 win at Eden Park and win the series 2-0, gives hope to the French team as it prepares for the test at Carisbrook.
N'Tamack, who earned 46 caps and scored a try in that 1994 test, said the new players in the French team had been imbued with this never-say-die spirit.
"We want to move the ball a lot and attack from all parts of the paddock, the way the All Blacks do."
The French have the knack of beating the All Blacks in big games and are keen to do it again on Saturday.
"We are confident about what we can do but we will need a lot of determination to beat the All Blacks," N'Tamack said.
Forwards coach Didier Retiere was not overly confident of the French repeating the 1994 win over the All Blacks.
"We have a very good team but it is always difficult to beat the All Blacks," he said.
"Yes, we do win sometimes, but we also lose to them a lot. We feel there is a very good spirit in our team but it will be difficult to beat the All Blacks."
France has been training in Auckland since it arrived.
"We have had very good training sessions since we arrived in New Zealand, but we have a number of new players, so it is difficult to really know what we can do," Retiere said.
The new coaching panel in France has adopted a more open game than has been used by France in the last eight years.
"For the last two years we have worked on a new spirit to get back to French rugby roots," Retiere said.
"The counterattacking skills are one of the good points we have got."
