All Blacks ready for revenge against France in Cardiff

The focus during the build up to the second of the quarterfinals between New Zealand and France has been on, of all things, which jersey each team will wear. But regardless of what the teams are wearing, it is the French who will be singing the blues.

The comparisons between this game and the 1999 semi final between these teams have been made by many. Just like in 1999 the All Blacks are expected to win this game at a canter, but as they showed in 1999, the French are not to be underestimated.

Coach Bernard Laporte surprised many when he named youngster Lionel Beauxis at fly-half ahead of the more experienced Frédéric Michalak, but combined with the selection of Damien Traille at fullback it is obvious that the French intend to play a tactical kicking game. This was not lost on All Blacks coach Graham Henry who said, “It is fair to say they are going to kick it, and kick it a lot I’d say. I think we will be bombarded.”

The All Blacks come into this game having not really been tested so far in this tournament, their smallest margin of victory so far is 40 points. However this was expected by the coaching staff who have focussed on ensuring every player has had game time and used the pool games as a build up to the knockout stage where three consecutive victories are required.

There are few injuries in the All Blacks camp, maestro Dan Carter has recovered from his calf injury and will take the field on Saturday night. There was a late injury scare when reserve hooker Keven Mealamu strained a hamstring at training, he is rated a 50-50 chance of being fit by kick-off. If he is unable to take his place he will be replaced by Andrew Hore.

The choice of tactics by the French is an unusual one given the danger posed by the All Blacks’ back three returning kicks. This approach was taken by Australia back in 2005 with disastrous results as they were carved up repeatedly on kick returns.

In all aspects of the game the advantage rests with the All Blacks, their scrum is considered the best in the world, their line-out is solid and their back line is dangerous from any position on the park. However, if there is one team capable of surprising everyone and beating New Zealand, it is the French. They did it in 1999, and will be hoping for a repeat performance, however unlikely that may be.

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The All Blacks ready for revenge against France in Cardiff by Hamish McBrearty, unless otherwise expressly stated, is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.