NZ v France Post match assessment

The game is over and what are your thoughts. Here's ESPN's run down: http://www.espnscrum.com/scrum/rugby/story/184725.html

My thoughts:
Close game.
NZ dominated the early stages and generally had more variation than the French. Cruden's kicking was terrible and they made more unforced errors than I care to remember. They looked out of sorts. Overall a pass mark, but a huge amount of potential improvement.

France. Played adequately. Especially given it's the end of the season and they have had limited preparation. There is room for improvement. They became increasingly 1 dimensional as the game improved, resorting to kick returns and playing for territory. They'll feel they can make big improvements.

The referee. Wayne Barnes 1st match I think with NZ and France since 2007. Adequate. I think both sides will have questions about his refereeing. The French will no doubt question his adjudication of the scrum and the AB's will have been bemused by his handling of some of the rucks. Overall I don't think he was to bad.

I cannot understand PSA's use of the bench. It seemed identical to the England game in the 6n. France had scrum dominance and looked threatening on attack. One change was required for the French halfback but all the other changes he made weakened France and limited their options. If your team is causing problems then have some faith in their stamina and keep them on.

A very mixed bag for NZ. The return of form for Aaron Smith and Nonu and rewarding Super form saw Ben Smith make an invaluable contribution and Ranger probably needs more of a cameo. When running over Huget I did remember that he ignored men outside him. Dagg may get another chance to regain his form but Ben Smith is proving to be an invaluable utility player.

Cruden's kicking was way off but his passing game helped redeem some of those crucial misses early on. He should be given a chance to redeem himself next week as he knows he had an off day. It happens even to Carter but it's important not to panic with him.

More concerning is a very green pack. The front row seemed outplayed and the scrum was under the hammer. Cane does good things in the open but seems wanting in the tight. The balance of the front and back rows needs a lot of work.

The good thing was there were no injury concerns and Woodcock and Weepu come back into the squad next week. The French gave us a good hard game and forced us into errors. Both sides can improve next week and I'm expecting a forward battle next week. Which in a way is exactly what we need.

Yea, you think Saint Andre has learnt his lesson by picking young Lopez at 10 who is having a great game so that means: time to sub him off for Michelak! It is compleltely barking.
i expect this week that he will start the Castres captain , Reme Tales at 10, one of the heroes of their Top14 win against Toulon. He will aslo probably play well and as he is guiding the french into a strong position, yup you guessed it SA will bring on old Freddy.
It is totally mental that Philipe will probably keep his job all the way through to the world cup.

I think he probably needed to pull him as the game went on. IMO the French tactics became increasingly 1 dimensional. Basically kick and hope the AB's made a mistake. With the AB's being sloppy it worked for a while.

I really enjoyed the game, best of the weekend. Agree with plenty of your points.

Re Michelak, he can be an extrovert, a maverick a game changer, look at some of his games for both France and Toulon at ten and he is fantastic, the demolishing of the Aussies last November, and Toulon vs Sale Sharks too.

But he is not playing that style post Xmas.


Question for you guys is, what you kiwis going to do to sort the pack out? Who should come in? Who should go?

I'm not sure. I think there are a few separate issues.

1: An aging pack and the need to blood new players. The likes of Hore and Mealamu are nearing the end of their careers. We need the likes of Coles coming through. This means game time. We also need backup. Even if McCaw is no1, we still need back up. You have to give players experience at this level.

2: Injuries: We have significant injuries in the tight 5. I think Woodcock and Whitelock are still number one in their positions. There backups have been slightly compromised by injuries, particularly at prop. Add Weepu's injury, SBW's departure and McCaw's sebatical. It will come right.

3: New style/strategies: The AB's are trying new things and I think many issues can be put down to limited preparation when combined with a new approach.

4: Loss of form: There are a few players struggling with form. Most notably Nonu and Dagg. They are either going to come back or be replaced.

The next game should be interesting. Both sides will have had a extra week to prepare. This is probably a better test of where both sides are.

I think both teams will be a lot better this week.
I don't think there is much that we can do for the ABs. We have generally picked the best player in each position getting a balance of experience vs form
The forwards a missing a lot of leaders - huge amount of experience lost recently. The biggest loss for this year is Sam Whitelock who is probably the only other person close to being a leader in the pack other than Read. I thought Messam could have been more prominent but with the only options being Vito or Luatua there's no point changing him.
Woodcock and Weepu should be available this week and will probably start - that should add a bit of stability to the team. I would be suprised to see any other changes - I think Dagg will be given another chance though may be not one more if he doesn't fire.

Cheers guys.

Looks like even the might ABs suffer the same problems as well.

It will be interesting to see the new lads coming through.

The French forwards posed us similar problems to the Irish forwards last year. The French props had good low body positions and were allowed to contest for ball. Cane is not strong in this area so we need Messam and others to line up their men and take them out. I remember a great clean out from Ben franks in the second half. That's the kind of aggression we need. We've got to commit more players to the clear out and protect that ball better as a result.

That was a good French performance and they finally selected their best backrow.

Yeah odd gane with a lot of average performances. Ben Smith, Nonu and Aaron Smith made the most of the chances they got to contribute to the tries but a typical nondescript start for the season. The savouring thing is our season's always get better.

What are your predictions for the next match?

I tend to think in reverse when considering the French these days. For one the club final players will apparently rejoin the team- that will apparently make the side stronger- I think it will do the reverse- wholesale changes after a fairly good performance isnt necessarily a good thing.

The AB's will be better for the outing thats for sure and all the things that go with being in a AB environment after a test has been played will flood through the side- gone are sxv concerns, a first up loss possibility and nerves and the tough workout they got will only serve them to focus more on lifting both intensity and execution.

So without looking at the French side a lot this week a Christchurch test- home to many Crusaders, should result in a more than comfortable win. I wouldnt expect too many changes as they've yet to establish a good platform and get combo's and a pattern going.

The lost art of positional kicking seems to be a huge requirement these days and Cruden will need to work on getting that right if he's to keep the ball in front of his side.

Losts of work to do Maes but I think they'll double the margin from last week at least.

Now you've done it Taylorman. What an arrogant Kiwi you are.
We'll probably get hammered now.

nganboy wrote:Now you've done it Taylorman. What an arrogant Kiwi you are.
We'll probably get hammered now.

I know...felt the hex in the air around me at the time...

Changes?...Ben Smith for FB and Ranger to start on the wing....sure it has to be- kill two birds with one stone...that French side was giving up a bit of space at times- something Ranger will appreciate...

Well France has to get past Auckland, right? I am actually looking forward to this one a lot more than the Lions-Combined Country match, which I suspect will be a dud.

Not sure who is lining up for Auckland, but hopefully they will play all their non-ABs and give France a match. I'm also not sure if I will have the NZ English language broadcast or not. Will have the French one for sure. I wonder if that means when I wake up I have to have an espresso and a baguette? Match kicks off at 3:30 in the morn.

There you go Doc...
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/sport/news/article.cfm?c_id=4&objectid=10889652

Blues v France
North Harbour Stadium, 7.05 tonight
Blues dont have access the their AB's for this one and Kirwans resting a couple of sxv players due to the upcoming trip to SA- Blues have a small chance of qualifying so understandable but JK's been upbeat about this one recently.

Expecting big thigs from Jackson Willison and Peter Saiili.
Blues:
15 Marty McKenzie, 14 Frank Halai, 13 Malakai Fekitoa, 12 Jackson Willison, 11 George Moala, 10 Baden Kerr, 9 J Gibson-Park, 8 Peter Saili, 7 Brendon O'Connor, 6 Kane Barrett, 5 Culum Retallick, 4 Anthony Boric, 3 Ofa Tu'ungafasi, 2 James Parsons (c), 1 Sam Prattley.16 Quentin MacDonald, 17 Angus Ta'avao, 18 Liaki Moli, 19 Ronald Raaymakers, 20 Sean Polwart, 21 Chris Noakes, 22 Tevita Li, 23 Wayne Ngaluafe.



France:
15 Maxime Medard, 14 Noa Nakaitaci, 13 Gael Fickou, 12 Maxime Mermoz, 11 Marc Andreu, 10 Remi Tales, 9 Jean M Doussain, 8 Antonie Claassen, 7 Bernard le Roux, 6 Yannick Nyanga, 5 A Flanquart, 4 C Samson, 3 Nicolas Mas, 2 Guilhem Guirado, 1 Eddy Ben Arous. 16 Benjamin Kayser, 17 Vincent Debaty, 18 Daniel Kotze, 19 Sebastien Vahaamahina, 20 Damien Chouly, 21 Frederic Michalak, 22 Camille Lopez, 23 Brice Dulin.

Thanks Taylor,
Is the Culum Retallick related to Brodie Retallick?
I'm familiar with some of the French team. Should be fun to watch.

doctor_grey wrote:Thanks Taylor,
Is the Culum Retallick related to Brodie Retallick?
I'm familiar with some of the French team. Should be fun to watch.

Yep theyre cousins from memory.
Heading home now to catch it myself...

Cheers

30 minutes in and the match is pretty enjoyable.
Auckland certainly in it and playing with a lot of confidence. France is better at the breakdown.

France finally scored the initial try of the match (~45 minutes). But my comment was going to be about Maxime Medard of France. Playing fullback, he is immense. Seems to make big yards every time he touches the ball. Clearly the best player on the pitch. But Auckland is still battling very well.

8-31 20 to play

38-15 final score. Agree that Medart was quite impressive today but again that wasnt the ABs defense he was against. Not much we can learn from this game though appart from giving game time to many players. Good defensive performance in the 1st half, some nice moves early 2nd half but unsurprisingly a lot of handling errors. Kudos to the young blues for giving france a game before fading.

I just read a French post match assessment of the test (http://www.lequipe.fr/Rugby/Actualites/On-a-revu-le-match/377115).

Essentially
The French scrum struggled.
The French back row outplayed their opposites.
Too many missed opportunities.
A better display with ball in hand than in the 6 nations.
(My French ain't the best - so feel free to correct me)

Taylorman wrote:There you go Doc...
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/sport/news/article.cfm?c_id=4&objectid=10889652

Blues v France
North Harbour Stadium, 7.05 tonight
Blues dont have access the their AB's for this one and Kirwans resting a couple of sxv players due to the upcoming trip to SA- Blues have a small chance of qualifying so understandable but JK's been upbeat about this one recently.

Expecting big thigs from Jackson Willison and Peter Saiili.
Blues:
15 Marty McKenzie, 14 Frank Halai, 13 Malakai Fekitoa, 12 Jackson Willison, 11 George Moala, 10 Baden Kerr, 9 J Gibson-Park, 8 Peter Saili, 7 Brendon O'Connor, 6 Kane Barrett, 5 Culum Retallick, 4 Anthony Boric, 3 Ofa Tu'ungafasi, 2 James Parsons (c), 1 Sam Prattley.16 Quentin MacDonald, 17 Angus Ta'avao, 18 Liaki Moli, 19 Ronald Raaymakers, 20 Sean Polwart, 21 Chris Noakes, 22 Tevita Li, 23 Wayne Ngaluafe.



France:
15 Maxime Medard, 14 Noa Nakaitaci, 13 Gael Fickou, 12 Maxime Mermoz, 11 Marc Andreu, 10 Remi Tales, 9 Jean M Doussain, 8 Antonie Claassen, 7 Bernard le Roux, 6 Yannick Nyanga, 5 A Flanquart, 4 C Samson, 3 Nicolas Mas, 2 Guilhem Guirado, 1 Eddy Ben Arous. 16 Benjamin Kayser, 17 Vincent Debaty, 18 Daniel Kotze, 19 Sebastien Vahaamahina, 20 Damien Chouly, 21 Frederic Michalak, 22 Camille Lopez, 23 Brice Dulin.

I thought that this had been canned. Great news to see. Good team too.