Thorne led New Zealand to triumph in the Bledisloe Cup

England are the only team to have beaten the All Blacks this year but Thorne insists that Les Bleus could be the surprise package in Australia.

Bernard Laporte's side certainly caught out Clive Woodward's experimental team in a World Cup warm-up match when they ended England's 14-match winning run in Marseille.

"England are very professional and very efficient at what they do but I think France are going to be extremely dangerous because they're so multi-talented," said Thorne.

"People are also talking Australia down but playing at home with the talent they've got, they're a real contender."

New Zealand winger Doug Howlett agreed with his skipper and believes that the French are more of an unknown quantity than England.

With the English, you know exactly what they're going to do Doug Howlett

"I look at the French with their style and type of play and I think they'll be a real threat," Howlett said.

"With the English, you know exactly what they're going to do, so you can prepare for what they're going to do in this part of the field or another part of the field."

France inflicted a memorable World Cup defeat on the All Blacks four years ago when they battled back to win 43-31 for a place in the final.

But this summer, France were beaten in Christchurch as Joe Rocokoco piled over for three tries for the home side.

The winger is determined that there will be no repeat of the semi-final upset should they meet in this year's competition.

"The past is the past," said Rocokoco. "We all know what happened in 1999 but we don't think about it."