France New Zealand match / build up

First topic message reminder :

I thought the AB looked a little tired against Japan so it wouldn't surprise me if France won this one if they hit the ground running that is.

from the AB website:
Les Bleus can dominate in the scrum, execute master classes in loose play, run magical lines to weave spells that no team can overcome, and put together periods where no side can match.

They haven't done that for a while!


The All Blacks have won 16 out of 23 games in France.

French team vs All Blacks

Dulin
Fofana
Huget
Fritz
Médard
Tales
Parra

Mas
Kayser
Forest
Maestri,
Pape
Chouly
Lauret
Dusautoir (cap)

Substitutes: Szarzewski, Debaty, Slimani Vahaamahina, Claassen, Doussain, Lopez, Fickou

allez les bleus! big scrum pls!

when is he going to blow for the NZ early shove every single time

shocking NZ play. yellow and penalty try. deliberate collapsing LH and attempted early shove.

take the scrum

allez les bleus!

Why are NZ in white? Isn't that Englands colour?

England got slated for playing black?

That should have been a penalty try

Phew

Disappointing end for France, good game, congrats to da Alles le Blacks.

Is it OK to say this is one that got away from France? I missed the 1st half and 10 mins of the 2nd?

bug6er...

Nathan, white is the ABs second strip and always has been, come on mate, keep up

oh well...we take the win...scrappy, terrible pitch. How two major 70,000 plus matches can have such sub standard pitches is beyond me. We should refuse to play on them. Our local club has a better surface.
Good effort France- last in the 6N to this...still definitely an enigma...

roll on england!

If England play like they did for the 1st 40mins all game then there is no reason why they can't beat the AB, nothing to fear!

i have never ever in my life not seen NZ get the rub of the green. It's a constant amazement. Great game that either side could have felt they deserved to win. Like the SA v Wales game, the kicking of NZ proved massively decisive.

Have to feel for France with another close defeat but a hand in the scrum and they have no one to blame but themselves. Let's not take away from the French though. They never gave up and 14 points down they played the stronger closing quarter so well done to them.

NZ won't be happy with a lot of that performance but it's a well fought win and I think it's the ideal preparation for next week. They scored when they needed to even though Cruden's miss didn't close out the game in hindsight.

Terrible pitch and I think unsympathetic at times from the ref from both sides. Great finish and I didn't recognise the French from this year's 6N or June series. No Michalak is obviously a help. Thought the 10 for France tonight kicked too long too many times but when the ball was kept in hand France looked threatening with Fofana breaking tackles at ease.

RDSguru wrote:Is it OK to say this is one that got away from France? I missed the 1st half and 10 mins of the 2nd?

France could have won if they converted their chances but the AB defences mostly held. I thought a draw always looked the worst outcome for NZ. We had a couple of nearly tries as well so overall the result was about right.

biggest difference NZ v FR and SA v Wal was the accuracy, distance wise, of the high kicks.

Wow that was awesomely stressful. Broadband mifi device ran out of bandwidth and the EE server to buy more has crashed. Ended up listening to the last 5 minutes on radiosport NZ via my 3G mobile until it too ran out of bandwidth. Reduced to watching text messages scroll past on the nzherald site.

I reckon if Ashton had scored the same try as Jane in the 1st minute they'dve given it. But the biggest take away is the horrific pitches. No wonder rugby up here is so turgid if that's the surface they play on.

Not convinced by Ben smith at center. 11 missed tackles. Quade Cooper would be proud of that effort.

NZ will need to tune up to beat the poms.

Taylorman wrote:oh well...we take the win...scrappy, terrible pitch. How two major 70,000 plus matches can have such sub standard pitches is beyond me. We should refuse to play on them. Our local club has a better surface.
Good effort France- last in the 6N to this...still definitely an enigma...

roll on england!

Well it has rained pretty hard and constant the last few days...... but hey, refuse to play on them and see the NH stats not worsen....

or just enjoy Rugby as how the Norse gods intended it to be played on!

Scrumpy wrote:If England play like they did for the 1st 40mins all game then there is no reason why they can't beat the AB, nothing to fear!

Absolutely right but the French have done England no favours. NZ will feel they got out of jail with a win and will put their heads down in training this week as they know England have been building momentum nicely. Thankfully Twickenham will have a good surface and that will suit NZ. Going to be a great game.

GloriousEmpire wrote:

Not convinced by Ben smith at center. 11 missed tackles. Quade Cooper would be proud of that effort.

Kind of shoots down your previous article about him then, no? Maybe the super Tom Taylor can take his place.......

Taylorman wrote:

RDSguru wrote:Is it OK to say this is one that got away from France? I missed the 1st half and 10 mins of the 2nd?

France could have won if they converted their chances but the AB defences mostly held. I thought a draw always looked the worst outcome for NZ. We had a couple of nearly tries as well so overall the result was about right.

So the did's outweighed the didnt's...

Do you think people will understand that.. you do and I think I do... lets hope

The Saint wrote:

GloriousEmpire wrote:

Not convinced by Ben smith at center. 11 missed tackles. Quade Cooper would be proud of that effort.

Kind of shoots down your previous article about him then, no? Maybe the super Tom Taylor can take his place.......

Not at all. He's a wing and should play wing. NZ need to develop a guy who plays center at super level. Although considering SBW, Conrad, Kahui are all unavailable not bad for a fourth pick. Problem is his positional awareness is not international standard yet and we will have to live with his channel being bombarded until he smartens up.

Nz are kicking away a lot of possession at the moment and probably were guilty of going wide a little prematurely.

Great accuracy to put away the chances presented though. And what defence at the end! Despite once again the scrum engagement laws failing to yield sensible results.

That's unfair Saint. His form was at wing and he never put a foot wrong there and got the most tries in the RC. It's a learning curve at 13 and he's got a lot to learn.

I welcome that game to be honest. Great atmosphere for these young players and difficult conditions. Had to dig deep and let's not forget France played well so it wasn't a bad performance really. We need these kinds of games as practice for the young players to experience before RWC knockout games. I can certainly be critical of many aspects of the NZ game but this was a game where France played well enough to win and they didn't and that's good enough for me. Roll on Twickenham. The media will bill it as a revenge match but it's just another game and one NZ will be aiming to win.

kia, I think Ben Smith could potentially be IRB player of the year. That's how good I think he is. Maybe you should take into consideration two daft articles, one on Smith and the other on Taylor, posted by a NZ fan. Hence my comment.

kiakahaaotearoa wrote:

Scrumpy wrote:If England play like they did for the 1st 40mins all game then there is no reason why they can't beat the AB, nothing to fear!

Absolutely right but the French have done England no favours. NZ will feel they got out of jail with a win and will put their heads down in training this week as they know England have been building momentum nicely. Thankfully Twickenham will have a good surface and that will suit NZ. Going to be a great game.

Hope so  

At least the pitch will be deserving of a game like this.

It's time the irb took action against these unions that play on substandard pitches my local club has a better playing surface

Yep these pitches are a disgrace. Not international standard. Pointless tinkering with scrum engagement rules if scrums are going to be set in a bog.

GloriousEmpire wrote:Wow that was awesomely stressful. Broadband mifi device ran out of bandwidth and the EE server to buy more has crashed. Ended up listening to the last 5 minutes on radiosport NZ via my 3G mobile until it too ran out of bandwidth. Reduced to watching text messages scroll past on the nzherald site.

I reckon if Ashton had scored the same try as Jane in the 1st minute they'dve given it. But the biggest take away is the horrific pitches. No wonder rugby up here is so turgid if that's the surface they play on.

Not convinced by Ben smith at center. 11 missed tackles. Quade Cooper would be proud of that effort.

NZ will need to tune up to beat the poms.

Where did you pull that stat from?  ESPN suggests he missed zero tackles..

http://www.espn.co.uk/scrum/rugby/match/174681.html

The Saint wrote:kia, I think Ben Smith could potentially be IRB player of the year. That's how good I think he is. Maybe you should take into consideration two daft articles, one on Smith and the other on Taylor, posted by a NZ fan. Hence my comment.

They weren't daft at all. Ben smith is being hailed as a "revelation" in some circles whilst I merely pointed out his legendary status a year earlier.

It's a mark of his class that he's chosen to deputise for the worlds best center. But it would be a little harsh to rate him on the Conrad scale quite just yet.

Well to be fair to our friend the Ben Smith article turned out to be a fair one. The Taylor one was risible and I know why you made the comment.

Those French subs were big units. Dusatoir was his usual class but one of them - don't even know how to spell his name but it sounds like Tahitian for Behemoth - was pretty useful on defence.

Rory_Gallagher wrote:

GloriousEmpire wrote:Wow that was awesomely stressful. Broadband mifi device ran out of bandwidth and the EE server to buy more has crashed. Ended up listening to the last 5 minutes on radiosport NZ via my 3G mobile until it too ran out of bandwidth. Reduced to watching text messages scroll past on the nzherald site.

I reckon if Ashton had scored the same try as Jane in the 1st minute they'dve given it. But the biggest take away is the horrific pitches. No wonder rugby up here is so turgid if that's the surface they play on.

Not convinced by Ben smith at center. 11 missed tackles. Quade Cooper would be proud of that effort.

NZ will need to tune up to beat the poms.

Where did you pull that stat from?  ESPN suggests he missed zero tackles..

http://www.espn.co.uk/scrum/rugby/match/174681.html

Earn stats are about as reliable as a welsh pitch. It was a comment made on radiosport, I'm taking their word for it due to my tv less status for the last 30 minutes.

Never lost at Stade de France (one draw). Really happy and relieved the perfect run is still alive.

GloriousEmpire wrote:
I reckon if Ashton had scored the same try as Jane in the 1st minute they'dve given it. But the biggest take away is the horrific pitches. No wonder rugby up here is so turgid if that's the surface they play on.

Did you miss Ireland hammer Samoa on a pristine pitch?

kiakahaaotearoa wrote:Well to be fair to our friend the Ben Smith article turned out to be a fair one. The Taylor one was risible and I know why you made the comment.

Those French subs were big units. Dusatoir was his usual class but one of them - don't even know how to spell his name but it sounds like Tahitian for Behemoth - was pretty useful on defence.

Risible? Tom Taylor has a 100% win record.That's pretty legendary. The highest of any starting line up player anywhere in history.

ESPN is generally rather accurate actually.  It is also revised the day after usually.

The main criticism of ESPN is usually made towards the turnover stat, as people don't realise that it counts for turnovers conceded.

I would suggest that 11 missed tackles is a farcical suggestion.

GloriousEmpire wrote:

kiakahaaotearoa wrote:Well to be fair to our friend the Ben Smith article turned out to be a fair one. The Taylor one was risible and I know why you made the comment.

Those French subs were big units. Dusatoir was his usual class but one of them - don't even know how to spell his name but it sounds like Tahitian for Behemoth - was pretty useful on defence.

Risible? Tom Taylor has a 100% win record.That's pretty legendary. The highest of any starting line up player anywhere in history.

Risible in a good way, mate. A laugh is a laugh.  

Rory_Gallagher wrote:ESPN is generally rather accurate actually.  It is also revised the day after usually.

The main criticism of ESPN is usually made towards the turnover stat, as people don't realise that it counts for turnovers conceded.

I would suggest that 11 missed tackles is a farcical suggestion.

As I said, just going on what the fairly knowledgable chaps on radiosport said. I saw him miss at least two in the first half so the 0 definitely isn't right.

GloriousEmpire wrote:

kiakahaaotearoa wrote:Well to be fair to our friend the Ben Smith article turned out to be a fair one. The Taylor one was risible and I know why you made the comment.

Those French subs were big units. Dusatoir was his usual class but one of them - don't even know how to spell his name but it sounds like Tahitian for Behemoth - was pretty useful on defence.

Risible? Tom Taylor has a 100% win record.That's pretty legendary. The highest of any starting line up player anywhere in history.

Englands Freddy Burns also has a 100% win rate at international level including a 100% win rate v NZ.

"Halftime: France have missed 1 tackle (yup just 1). All blacks have missed 12 or 1 in 5.67 tackle attempts. #FRAvNZL"

They made the comment following the stats produced by rucking good , citing smith as the worst offender. I guess it's all a matter of who you deem to have not made a tackle when one should have been made. Zero is clearly ridiculous.

GunsGerms wrote:

GloriousEmpire wrote:

kiakahaaotearoa wrote:Well to be fair to our friend the Ben Smith article turned out to be a fair one. The Taylor one was risible and I know why you made the comment.

Those French subs were big units. Dusatoir was his usual class but one of them - don't even know how to spell his name but it sounds like Tahitian for Behemoth - was pretty useful on defence.

Risible? Tom Taylor has a 100% win record.That's pretty legendary. The highest of any starting line up player anywhere in history.

Englands Freddy Burns also has a 100% win rate at international level including a 100% win rate v NZ.

 

GunsGerms wrote:

GloriousEmpire wrote:

kiakahaaotearoa wrote:Well to be fair to our friend the Ben Smith article turned out to be a fair one. The Taylor one was risible and I know why you made the comment.

Those French subs were big units. Dusatoir was his usual class but one of them - don't even know how to spell his name but it sounds like Tahitian for Behemoth - was pretty useful on defence.

Risible? Tom Taylor has a 100% win record.That's pretty legendary. The highest of any starting line up player anywhere in history.

Englands Freddy Burns also has a 100% win rate at international level including a 100% win rate v NZ.

But he didn't start... He came on for about 3 minutes at the end.

Then it must be Farrell with the 100% record versus NZ?

GE, you need to get your cable/comms systems properly set up for next week.
How is the new place besides that?

GloriousEmpire wrote:

GunsGerms wrote:

GloriousEmpire wrote:

kiakahaaotearoa wrote:Well to be fair to our friend the Ben Smith article turned out to be a fair one. The Taylor one was risible and I know why you made the comment.

Those French subs were big units. Dusatoir was his usual class but one of them - don't even know how to spell his name but it sounds like Tahitian for Behemoth - was pretty useful on defence.

Risible? Tom Taylor has a 100% win record.That's pretty legendary. The highest of any starting line up player anywhere in history.

Englands Freddy Burns also has a 100% win rate at international level including a 100% win rate v NZ.

But he didn't start... He came on for about 3 minutes at the end.

Enough time to score 6 points. Possibly a crucial 6 points?

Linebreaker wrote:GE, you need to get your cable/comms systems properly set up for next week.
How is the new place besides that?

27 November is the install date I have, but this is the third time
I've been given a revised date. Luckily I'm at the game next week on a work hospitality jolly. I say luckily, but maybe unluckily I will have to be on good behaviour whilst I suck up grotesquely.

Other than that the place is great.

But anyway, glad NZ got a decent work out today, a roll over from France would've done no good.

You mean you don't express similar opinions on your work outings?

I've put some money on England to win. Hopefully in the painful unthinkable scenario that feign celebration of triumphant England is required at least it'll keep my heart in it a bit.

I'd love to be a wall photo at that jolly...

He has to be a little diplomatic, guns. At least for the first 75.  

Geez, rain here. No idea where my umbrella is. In fact, I've almost forgotten the concept of one!

GunsGerms wrote:

GloriousEmpire wrote:

GunsGerms wrote:

GloriousEmpire wrote:

kiakahaaotearoa wrote:Well to be fair to our friend the Ben Smith article turned out to be a fair one. The Taylor one was risible and I know why you made the comment.

Those French subs were big units. Dusatoir was his usual class but one of them - don't even know how to spell his name but it sounds like Tahitian for Behemoth - was pretty useful on defence.

Risible? Tom Taylor has a 100% win record.That's pretty legendary. The highest of any starting line up player anywhere in history.

Englands Freddy Burns also has a 100% win rate at international level including a 100% win rate v NZ.

But he didn't start... He came on for about 3 minutes at the end.

Enough time to score 6 points. Possibly a crucial 6 points?

Could've been. At the rate England were leaking points towards the end, if messam hadn't dropped the ball cold over the line the 6 points might've come in handy. If that game had gone on another 5 minutes, NZ would've knicked it.