New Zealand v France:Ali Williams is an interesting character. Like the majority of frontline locks at the cutting edge of Test rugby, he's had his blips. He's fought the law and hasn't always won. But he doesn't mumble platitudes. The man has a sense of humour and he can rap.

Alas a frenzy of questions from a mix of mostly Kiwi and French journalists wasn't the best of circumstances to bring this out in him. For some of the former, the preoccupation was the consequences of failure, for the latter, it was the possible renewal of hostilities with Sebastien Chabal, who broke Williams' cheekbone with a thunderous, head-first charge in June.

"Do you remember the last time you saw Sebastien Chabal on the field?"

"Yea," smiled the 6ft 8ins Williams, refusing to bite, but knowing full well where this was going.

"How was it?"

"It was pretty painful," he smiled, wryly. A few more straight bats later, then it was the print media's turn.

"After what's happened, will you be sad that you won't be starting against him (Chabal)?" Williams furrowed his brow. "That's a strange question mate."

And so it went on. "It's just a game. There are no individual battles between me and him. Why would there be? That's in the past. It's a game of rugby. It's like anyone else who got injured in a tackle. Did they go and seek him for revenge. I wouldn't play the game if it were like that."

"If you see him in the tunnel will you look him in the eyes?"

"I'll probably shake his hand and say: 'how you doing mate?'"

No, he had no anger toward Chabal. No, he had no contact with him.

"Where's this going?" said Williams, shaking his head from side to side.

The round-table interview moved on, before Williams was asked by a compatriot what he thought the mood would be in New Zealand if they lost.

"Mate, why do you ask me a question like that? We're in Wales and the mood's pretty sharp here at the moment so I'd say it would be twice as bad back home if we go home. The plane might get diverted if we lost." Soon after he announced, "sweet as" while arising from his chair and declaring, heavy on the irony: "Lovely speaking to you guys. Thank you very much."

In between times though, he showed he didn't mind talking. Despite a personal record of seven wins and a draw against the French, he conceded that the 1999 semi-final defeat in Twickenham was a more pertinent reminder that "if France are here to play, they're a side that can do anything. Sometimes, no matter how prepared you are, they can pull out something just magical. For us, we've got to concentrate on our job, do our simple things."

For Williams that means the lineout (a discussion and potential Achilles heel that also irks him), scrummaging, hitting rucks and making his tackles.

"The huge focus for me is on my job, control what I can control, and that is do my job, and let the backs do their stuff."

He does himself a little disservice here, for this year he has set up tries for team-mates with a crosskick and a behind-the-back pass. Something of a free spirit, the 26-year-old is bound for Canterbury Crusaders next year in place of the Saracens-bound Chris Jack, and faces into his 46th Test as the All Blacks' own leading tight five performer of the Cup so far.

"I have had a few incidents in my life which make me realise the importance of every moment," he told the New Zealand Herald last week. "You know with my father's injury (rendered a tetraplegic in an accident) and things like that you have to treasure every moment as it comes and every opportunity you get."

Indeed, get him talking about the silver fern on his shirt this weekend and he is on more expressive ground. "It means a lot, it means a lot to us as a team; the history; the people who have worn the jersey before us, where the jersey is placed, not only just in New Zealand but the world; the pure passion it brings out in me is huge as it is for all the others in the team.

"The beauty of it now is that it's our turn to leave our mark on it, because we're not going to be All Blacks for ever. So we give everything while we've got the opportunity to wear it. As our motto has always been, better people make better All Blacks. And that's just one of the things we try to do, to be better people on and off the field, in turn to be better All Blacks, and leave the name in a better position than it was before we started."

Probably relishing the thought of a full-on quarter-final, ultimately too, Williams has a no-nonsense view of the game which any lock honed out of New Zealand rock would share.

Rejecting the notion that French rugby players were any more physical than South Africans, Australians or anyone else, he ventured: "If all 15 of us don't come physically ready to battle we'll be found out. It's just another rugby match. Every team is very physical. For forwards it's a very simple really.

"We run into each other full tilt and see who comes off best, and (then look to) physically dominate. It's very simple."