Deflated French hooker Dimitri Szarzewski said his side was 'playing with 15 against 16' in their losing World Cup final to the All Blacks.But he wasn't talking about referee Craig Joubert.

Instead, it was the massive wave of crowd support that kept New Zealand's spirits up as they repelled wave after wave of pressure from France in the last 20 minutes in particular.

Heartbroken by the narrow 8-7 defeat, the same score France beat Wales by in the semi-final, Szarzewski said he would have preferred to lose by 40 points rather than one.

"We are very frustrated. But that's just sport," he said.

"We were playing 15 against 16 and everyone found it logical that New Zealand won. We put pressure on them, but it wasn't enough."

"There wasn't much difference. We countered them, but it wasn't enough. The kicking was bad for both teams. But we are not disappointed about our World Cup."

Szarzewski's front-row partner Fabien Barcella rued a change of fortunes from their abject semi-final performance, one that fooled a lot of people into underestimating their chances a week later.

"To lose a final like this, with such a small margin, in such difficult conditions, it's very sad," Barcella said.

"This week we deserved to win and lost, whereas last week (against Wales) we deserved to lose and won."

The tone was set in the response to the haka, a 'flying V' style linking of arms that saw the white-shirted Frenchmen advance over the halfway line towards the All Blacks in a show of solidarity and intent.

It may cost them in fines from the IRB in encroaching over their own 40m line but they believe it was money well spent.

"We wanted to do something tonight. It was pretty cool, I believe," Barcella said. "We were 30 (players) tonight. It was a V for Victory, but tonight we are just really sad."

It is the end of an era for many of France's gallant troops, including coach Marc Lievremont, who defied criticism from inside and outside the camp to guide his side through troubled waters into the final.

"It's special because several players are retiring tonight. It was Lionel Nallet's last World Cup game. He is such an example to me - he is a second row, as I am," Barcella said.

"Tonight I am proud to be French. I wouldn't want to swap my jersey to be an All Black for anything in the world."