"Silently everybody knows what they have to do, they live by the fear of losing." Jonah Lomu speaks to scrum.com ahead of the Rugby World Cup quarter-finals.

Former All Black and Rugby World Cup legend Jonah Lomu has backed New Zealand to see off the challenge of France in this weekend's quarter-finals.

Lomu, who was a member of the All Blacks side that were stunned by France at RWC'99, insists New Zealand side can banish those memories and maintain their impressive record of reaching at least the last four at every Rugby World Cup.

However he insists it will be no easy task for Graham Henry's side when the two clash at the Millennium Stadium on Saturday.

"It's tough to call," commented the 32-year-old. "France have built nicely, after what everyone else thinks was a hiccup, losing against Argentina.

"It's going to be tight, that's for sure, but I'm a natural New Zealander, born and bred in NZ, so I'll be definitely backing them."

Lomu, who made his name at the 1995 Rugby World Cup in South Africa, is also wary of New Zealand's easy passage into the last eight.

"New Zealand definitely hasn't had any hard games, and that could work against them, it might not. But also at the same time, with guys being fresh that might help as well but it doesn't help that you don't have any hard games through.

"I don't think it will be too much of a major issue though, maybe only when you get into the later stages of the game. That's when you really want tough games under your belt; to know your body's been there a couple of times before the quarter-finals come along.

"When you're winning by 50 or 60 points it might be detrimental in terms of the fact that you haven't had any pressure put on you, so it feels a little bit unnatural. I guess we'll know in the first ten minutes."

New Zealand's last clash with France on the sport's biggest stage came on that memorable day at Twickenham eight years ago when the much-favoured All Blacks were sent crashing by Les Blues in one of the greatest World Cup upsets.

It was almost like everything stopped at about the 60th minute, things just stopped and we never saw anything else really," Lomu added reflecting on that historic day that saw France overturn a 24-10 deficit to eventually triumph 43-31.

This weekend sees a similar scenario looming with Henry's side favourites to progress but France waiting to spoil the party once again.

New Zealand enter the clash with weight of expectation weighing heavier than ever and it is a pressure Lomu was accustomed to during his international career.

"I guess you have a lot of anxiety when your whole country stops, waiting in anticipation to see what is going to happen," offers the giant winger.

"Basically, when you put on the jersey you know the whole country is on your shoulders. And when you have that sort of pressure and expectation, when you know that if you don't succeed you will be on that plane home early.

"Silently everybody knows what they have to do, they live by the fear of losing, in terms of we mustn't lose, it's always been our mentality and we use it as a positive tool, a way of preparing ourselves before games."

Lomu's place in the tournament's history is assured but his two try-scoring records are very much under threat with the world's leading speedsters closing in on his marks.

New Zealand Doug Howlett is leading the try-scoring charts for this tournament with 7 to his name so far leving him just one behind the number notched by Lomu in 1995.

Also in the race for that honour are Australia's Drew Mitchell and South Africa's Bryan Habana who both have six.

Howlett is also closing in on Lomu's record of 15 Rugby World Cup tries andis just two short heading into this weekend's quarter-finals.

However, Lomu was unconcerned at the prospect of seeing his name scratched from the record books.

"I've always believed records are meant to be broken," insisted Lomu, who hopes to return to action in New zealand next year.

"So if one of them breaks it, then they break it. I'm fine with that. They are two guys who have played some great football."

Jonah Lomu will be sharing his insight and opinion throughout the 2007 Rugby World Cup. Keep up to date with Jonah's exclusive blog on www.yahoo.co.uk/eurosport.