<\/p>\n
At the end of the year, he'll retire and end a coaching career that stems back to the mid-1980s and included two stints as assistant coach of the All Blacks.\u00a0<\/p>\n
As he heads towards becoming only the fourth Black Ferns coach to finish with a 100 per cent win record, Smith said there's little point looking at past results for a form guide.<\/p>\n
"I don't think history gives you an edge," he said.<\/p>\n
"I told the girls a story about 2007 when we [the All Blacks] beat France, 61-10, in Wellington.\u00a0<\/p>\n
READ MORE:<\/strong> Cricket legend spills on 'serious' drug addiction<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n READ MORE:<\/strong> Rival's furious Ricciardo spray after nasty crash<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n READ MORE:<\/strong> Cup 'tactics' tipped to cruel favourite's $8m bid<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n ULTIMATE GUIDE:<\/strong> Everything you need to know about the 2022 Melbourne Cup\ufeff<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n "Four months later they beat us in the quarter-final of the World Cup. History counts for nothing. You need to be up, week by week.<\/p>\n "We've said all along that we've got a lot of ground to make up," he added.<\/p>\n "We got some hidings on the end-of-year tour last year. Again, there's pride at stake I think and we'll have a good week preparing for this.\u00a0<\/p>\n "What I've seen from [France], they're extremely efficient. Great defensive team, do things well, they've got some good players. It's going to be a battle."<\/p>\n New Zealand lost in consecutive Tests to France last year by sizeable margins.<\/p>\n In their first spring tour match, they lost 38-13. A week later they went down 29-7.<\/p>\n The last time New Zealand beat France was in 2018 when they triumphed 14-0.<\/p>\n New Zealand has only faced France on nine occasions \u2013 five of those were wins.<\/p>\n Smith admitted that he's not sure which way the forthcoming semi-final will fall.<\/p>\n New Zealand conceded 17 points early to Australia in their first Pool A match only to respond with 41 unanswered points.<\/p>\n https:\/\/twitter.com\/StanSportRugby\/status\/1586862074356895745<\/a><\/p>\n Their subsequent games against Wales and Scotland were walkovers, winning 56-12 and 57-0 respectively.<\/p>\n "Seventeen-nil against Australia was testing," remarked Smith.<\/p>\n "We've had to battle through some games. Even [against Wales in the quarter-final] we had to battle through the start. They were really into us. We were into them as well.\u00a0<\/p>\n "It is what it is. Who knows if we've been tested enough or not? I've never coached against this French team. I've only really seen them play in this tournament and a couple of games when I watched the end-of-year tour last year. It'll be interesting."<\/p>\n The first semi-final of this year's Rugby World Cup will take place between Canada and favourites England on Saturday, November 5 at 2.30pm (AEDT).<\/p>\n Hosts New Zealand will face France the same day at 5.30pm (AEDT).\u00a0<\/p>\n Both semi-final matches will be played at Eden Park as will the bronze medal match and the final a week later on Saturday, November 12.<\/p>\n The Blacks Ferns have won five of the last six Rugby World Cup competitions.<\/p>\n For a daily dose of the best of the breaking news and exclusive content from Wide World of Sports, subscribe to our newsletter by<\/strong><\/em> clicking here<\/strong><\/em><\/a>!<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<\/p>\n