All Blacks ready for French invasion

The All Blacks’ international season kicks off on Saturday night in Auckland against an under-strength French team, and a good performance is on the cards.

The All Black selector have named what many would consider to be their top team, choosing only to experiment with Chris Masoe playing at Number 8. The only centre who is currently fit is Isaia Toeava and he is coming back from an ankle injury suffered in the Super 14 semi final.

The French are without a number of their star players due to club commitments. But even with only five first choice players, this is still a team who must not be taken lightly. Made up of a mixture of youth and experience, many of those playing for France could be playing for the few remaining World Cup places.

One player eyeing a World Cup recall is French prop Christian Califano, who retired from international rugby four years ago, and returns to Auckland where he played for the 2002 Blues in Super Rugby.

But up against the powerful All Blacks’ pack, France are expected to struggle. Last year in Paris, with a full strength team, France dominated the territory and possession by a margin of two-to-one, but lost 23-11 due to lightning fast counter attacks by the All Blacks.

The All Blacks’ tight five is, on paper, a formidable one and if they have built good combinations during training camp they are likely to put the inexperienced French pack to the sword. Frances defence will also need to be nothing short of water tight if they hope to keep an explosive All Blacks’ back-line in check. Virtually the entire All Blacks’ back-line is capable of creating chances from nothing, and with front foot ball they will be a challenge to even the tightest defence.While the actual result may be secondary in the minds of the coaches, fans from both countries will be looking for a win and a good performance from their team. If the All Blacks are to keep their World Cup favourites tag, fans will be expecting a solid first outing, if not a spectacular show.

The World Cup is still over three months away and little should be read into this result with regard to it, it is the on field performance which is important. If the All Blacks can start their international season on the right foot, they will take a lot of confidence into the rest of their campaign.

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The All Blacks ready for French invasion by Hamish McBrearty, unless otherwise expressly stated, is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.