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McCaw pondered drop-kick

Richie McCaw: 'A penalty would have been fine'

Beaten New Zealand captain Richie McCaw confirmed the All Blacks had pondered about taking what would have been a match-winning drop-goal attempt in a bid to beat France in the World Cup quarter-final.

France put in an inspiring second half performance to cut out a 13-point deficit and record a remarkable, if not shocking, 20-18 win over the tournament favourites in Cardiff over the weekend.

The Kiwi supporters that crammed into the Millennium Stadium on that fateful Saturday evening, were urging their team to take a pot shot for the posts as the All Blacks stacked up multiple phases in a desperate bid to score a match-winning try.

"It was definitely talked about," McCaw told Fairfax Media.

"I guess the guys in those positions have to know when it's on to have a go. Nick [Evans] was there for a while and then Luke [McAlister].

"Sometimes when you drop back to do that, the pressure really comes on. The way this team has been it's always backed itself to use the ball effectively.

"In saying that you realise you've got to take every opportunity you get and sometimes that [a dropped goal] is the only way.

"From where I was - I can't speak for the guys outside - it didn't feel like we'd got in the right position to comfortably set up for that and the French were aware of that, I'm sure."

McCaw said the All Blacks did not mind how they scored.

"A penalty would have been fine, to be honest," said the New Zealand skipper.

"The French did well not to give away a penalty [in the entire second half] with the amount of ball we had inside their 22."

But McCaw did concede the All Blacks did not want to come away from the World Cup, "having not tried to play".

"That's the way we've been successful over the last couple of years, to use our talents and show what the boys can do.

"We did try that out there, up against a pretty good defence which stopped us being as effective as we would have liked."

Meanwhile, the All Blacks will arrive back in New Zealand in Christchurch on Thursday morning.

The bulk of the squad were initially intended to land at Auckland international airport, but 17 players and members of the management group - including coach Graham Henry - will now disembark in Christchurch.

Their Air New Zealand flight via Tokyo routinely stops in Christchurch en route to Auckland, its final destination

A New Zealand Rugby Union (NZRU) spokesman said given the Canterbury contingent of the squad were getting off in Christchurch the travelling party would all disembark there before taking domestic flights to Auckland, Wellington, Dunedin and, in lock Chris Jack's case, Nelson.

Originally all 30 players were to arrive back in New Zealand at the end of the campaign but because some players' partners and family had flights that could not be changed, six players farewelled their team-mates in Cardiff.

Mils Muliaina, Jerry Collins, Doug Howlett, Andy Ellis, Byron Kelleher and Neemia Tialata will head home independently.

Another seven players plus the rest of the management team will arrive home on Thursday.