The All Blacks, consistently the best team in the world and so often pre-tournament favourites, have fallen short at each of the past five World Cups and are facing massive expectation from a rugby-mad country to win their second Webb Ellis trophy.
France have had a muddled campaign, not playing to a level that comes close to suggesting the country has won nine grand slams, and they lost 37-17 to the All Blacks and 19-14 to Tonga in pool play.
After racing to a 16-0 lead they held on to win their quarter-final against England 19-12, but then struggled to overcome 14-man Wales in the semi-final, which has prompted pundits to say they have no chance of winning the final - though the All Blacks do not share that opinion.
Henry is mindful of just how good they can be, having beaten New Zealand twice in the World Cup at times when no-one gave them a chance and has been hammering that into his players, who have all dismissed notions of a rout on Sunday.
In 1999, France overturned a 14-point deficit to blow the All Blacks off the field 43-31 in their semi-final, while in 2007 led by the brutal tackling of captain Thierry Dusautoir they poached a 20-18 victory in the quarter-finals.
Local and French media, apart from writing off the team's chances, have also highlighted apparent rifts between the players and outspoken coach Marc Lievremont, though how much of that is smokescreen and mind games by the man who played in the 1999 semi-final victory over the All Blacks is anyone's guess. -http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com
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