'Things will fall into place': All Blacks stress forward pack dominance
Another chapter in the famous rivalry between the All Blacks and France will be written on Friday night in Paris as the Rugby World Cup is kicked off with a bang. That bang will be the clattering of forwards in a battle up front that will go a long way in deciding the opening game.
That may well make Kiwi fans a little nervous given the All Blacks’ last outing was the most thorough set piece dismantling New Zealand has been subject to since the Ireland tour last July.
Within context, the match was a warm-up for this weekend’s action and the All Blacks were a man down after Scott Barrett was sin-binned before halftime.
But there will be no forgiveness for lack of consistency or ill-discipline in this merciless World Cup, especially with such competitive pools offering little respite in the pursuit of lifting the Webb Ellis Cup.
The All Blacks are keeping it simple in their approach to the opening match though, knowing that nailing the fundamentals is the essential component of any winning performance.
“The best team on the day wins,” Ofa Tu’ungafasi told reporters. “How the game is played can determine a lot of that – the result.
“Obviously, if you’re dominating up front, you’re doing everything right, versus if you’re making errors, you’re not going forward, I think that can determine a lot of the results in the game.
“At Twickenham, look, we were down a man, (South) Africa were dominating up front and we were under a lot of pressure.
“In terms of the French, it’s going to be very similar. They’ve got a big pack, obviously known for scrummaging, line out mauling, that’s what they love and so do we.
“It comes down to the day, which team has prepared the best, (which team is) executing their game plan, making the least errors. Things will fall into place (for that team) and they’ll win.”
Tu’ungafasi’s front-row partner, Ethan de Groot, will square off with the French for the first time in his young career in front of 80,000 passionate fans at Stade de France. The occasion only adds further excitement for the prop who claims to feel well prepared despite the unfamiliarity of his opponent.
“I think it just comes down to reviewing, previewing teams, talking to the guys that have scrummed them before,” he said. “Getting around the leaders in the team that have come up against the French in France.
“Plenty of homework’s gone into this week, we’re ready to put our plan into place.”
While the lessons from the Twickenham Test are still fresh, the All Blacks have also been reviewing their last game against France, a resounding 40-25 loss.
That match was almost two years ago but there’s still plenty to take away from the defeat as well as insight into the differences between their last opponent and Friday night’s.
“I think one little difference, obviously big packs going against each other, I think the French are probably lean a bit more than the South Africans, they’ve got that whole back five coming off, no one’s really holding any weight so we’ll be prepared for that and that’s probably the one big difference between the French and the South Africans; more lean.”
It’ll be a mammoth contest up front and both teams will be going in without one of their starting props, with Cyril Baille sidelined for Frane with a calf injury and New Zealand’s Tyrel Lomax out with a deep gash.
“He’ll be right,” de Groot said of Lomax. “Lomy’s going to be fine. He’s obviously got a big cut on his leg and it’s healing pretty quick so he’s not down in the dumps too much but I’m sure he’ll be back pretty soon.”
Comments on RugbyPass
Let’s not forget about Ardie Savea just yet.
4 Go to commentsThe URC and the Euro Championscup can’t run at the same time, basically dilutes both competitions.
1 Go to comments“While Sotutu should start at No.8 for the All Blacks against England, but it’s only in that arena that he can prove just how good he really is.” And that my friends is where simply hasnt shone despite multiple opportunities. Even in this performance you can see what did him in in the test arena..he almost always still runs at the opposition almost ramrod upright making him easier to stop than it should be.
4 Go to commentsShould have been 0-0 and a message from SR CEO to both teams - “don’t worry about turning up next year”.
4 Go to commentsGreat work Owen Franks. A great of this team, scoring his first try for the Crusaders since 2010.He was beaming, justifiably. A fine win, he and the rest did the job up front.
1 Go to commentsDanny Care. Lang in die tand.
1 Go to commentsBig empty stadium does nothing for atmosphere but munster are playing well with solid performance
1 Go to commentsYes, Fiji can win the World Cup! With that belief plus their christian faith🙏 and hard work it is achievable. Great article. Ian Duncan Fiji resident 1981-84
2 Go to commentsInteresting comments about Touch. England’s hosting the Touch World Cup this year and the numbers have exploded since their last World Cup in 2019, something like 70% more teams and 40 nations taking part. And England Touch have made a big thing about how many universities are in their BUCS University Touch Championship as well as Sport England membership. Can only see this growing even more domestically as more people become aware of it
10 Go to comments“Cortez Ratima is light years ahead of anyone on current form, while TJ Perenara has also skyrocketed into contention following the unfortunate injury to the talented Cam Roigard.” At last some sanity. Hitherto so many pundits have been wittering on about Finlay Christie to the point one wondered if they were observing a FC in a parallel universe where the FC they saw wasnt just the mediocre Shayne Philpott project of Fosters hapless AB reign in the real world. Ratima, Perenara and Fakatava are the ONLY logical 9s for Razor now Roigard is crocked.
4 Go to commentsThis game was just as painful as the Hurricanes game. It was real fork-in-the-eye stuff.
4 Go to commentsNow if they could just fire the Crusaders ground PA guy who likes to play his dance music and just loves the sound of his own voice the entire game, even when play is going on. And I thought their brass band thing of a few years ago was bad.
5 Go to commentsUnfortunately when you lose by far the two form players this season in Roigard and Aumua, you're left replacing two game changing Tanks with a couple of pea-shooters. Which is also about the speed of TJs pass.
4 Go to commentsBit rich coming from the guy with zero loyalty to anyone or any team, including happily taking a players place in a league world cup squad because well, SBW wanted to play in it and thus an already named player got told he was no longer going. And airing stuff like this, which may or may not be true, doesn't exactly say you're a stand up guy either SBW. Just looking to keep his name in lights as usual.
38 Go to commentsTamati Tua. …the Taniwha NPC midfielder. Ollie Sapsford, Hawkes Bay NPC midfielder…doing well
4 Go to commentsFiji deserve to be in the rugby championship, fans love seeing the Fijian national team play, the Fijian Drua is a wonderful idea but the players can still be stolen to play for NZ and AUS…
2 Go to commentsThe first concern for this afternoon are wheather forecast…
1 Go to commentsWhy cant I watch Rugby games please?
1 Go to commentsBeautiful shot from Finau, end of story. Gutted for Shaun Stevenson though.
4 Go to commentsThe Chiefs definitely didn’t win ugly. They had the superior scrum, a dominant lineout, and their defence was excellent once the Waratahs scored their two tries (thanks to some lucky refereeing calls mind you). They put pressure on the Waratahs lineout throughout the game, and the mind boggles as to why the referee did not award a yellow card or a penalty try against the Waratahs for repeated scrum infringements on their own try line before Narawa’s first try. And the Chiefs were slick with their passing and running angles on attack. It was a dominant performance all round, even with many questionable refereeing decisions.
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