Preview: New Zealand vs France

October 16, 2015
2039
Ultimate Rugby

New Zealand vs France: Quarter-Final Preview

New Zealand gave their best performance of the World Cup in their final pool match, while France delivered their worst performance in their final pool game. The All Blacks second half display against Tonga showed more than glimpses of their skill, but for France there were few positives in their comprehensive defeat to Ireland.

This is the knock-out phase of the World Cup though, and France have shown before they can overturn all expectations by beating the tournament favourites. But do France have the playing talent, team unity, and coaching acumen to beat these All Blacks? Their players were shown up for skill and nous by Ireland, despite Ireland’s tough injury woes, and rumours of the French players’ discord with their coach Philippe Saint-André are too numerous to be entirely without foundation.

Whether the French players have indeed turned their backs on Saint-André and are largely coaching themselves, as the story would have us believe, is mere conjecture for the moment, but the All Blacks, in contrast, certainly have the skills and coaching prowess and team unity to keep on going past this quarter-final at least.

Set-piece ball will be crucial, as the French like to set up attacking play from lineouts and scrums, and Ireland’s negating of these platforms stymied the French last weekend. New Zealand’s scrummaging has been less than convincing though, and an improvement here will be important to their game, as will be competing on France’s lineouts.

Among the questions to be answered at the Millennium Stadium on Sunday are whether dropping Mathieu Bastareaud to the bench mean France will bash less in midfield and play wider, whether France can lift their game after last week’s sub-standard performance and show the flair for which they used to be famous, how France will cope with Aaron Smith’s tactical kicking and the All Blacks counter-attacking, whether the All Blacks will focus more on dominance at breakdown, and most of all, whether these All Blacks can come close to firing on all cylinders.

Key players:

For France, Morgan Parra at 9 and Frederic Michalak at 10, starting together for the first time in two-and-a-half years, centres Wesley Fofana (perhaps the one French player with real X-factor) and Alexandre Dumoulin, a pair for the first time in 2015, and Thierry Dusautoir, whose leadership in a troubled team environment is critical. For New Zealand, Aaron Smith and Dan Carter to direct the game, devastating attackers Ben Smith and Nehe Milner-Skudder, and key forwards Dane Coles, Brodie Retallick, and the maestro Richie McCaw.