Philippe Saint-Andre has called for France's squad to stick together if they are to upset Rugby World Cup favourites New Zealand in the quarter-finals.

Defeat to Ireland in the final game of Pool D on Sunday left France in the runners-up position behind Joe Schmidt's side, consigning them to a daunting last-eight encounter with the All Blacks.

Saint-Andre was not happy with the way France performed in the 24-9 defeat at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff, but says they must stay united if they are to plot the downfall of the unbeaten Kiwis.

"New Zealand are favourites but a game of rugby, you never know," he said. "What's important for us is to stick together, to accept that [against Ireland] we didn't perform well and to be ready for Saturday for a huge game against the All Blacks.

"We didn't propose to play against New Zealand. Ireland deserved to win so now we don't have the choice [of who to play]. 

"We'll play New Zealand, we know it's a tough game but we aren't out of the competition so we need to stick together, put the spirit back and perform much better than we did today."

Saturday will be the seventh time France have met New Zealand at the World Cup – winning twice in the 2007 quarter-final and 1999 semis. Les Bleus lost to the All Blacks in the final of the 2011 tournament at Auckland's Eden Park.