France will be smelling blood when a wounded All Blacks outfit visits Stade de France on Saturday evening. Darry Worthington previews.
The All Blacks will be looking for a big response against the French after last weekend’s poor showing in Dublin. The men in black suffered their second defeat of the year last Saturday, and while that’s still a solid enough record, head coach Ian Foster is starting to come under some pressure from the New Zealand rugby public.
He will need his side to respond in kind here to quieten down what is becoming a more and more vocal ‘Foster’ out contingent. It certainly won’t be as simple as turning up to the Stade de France and taking a win as this is a very solid French outfit.
France v New Zealand
Saturday 20 November
Stade de France
22:00
To Win (80 Mins)
France 18/10 | Draw 20/1 | New Zealand 9/20
Handicap
France (+5.5) 9/10 | New Zealand (-5.5) 9/10
Well, things are certainly not going all Ian Foster’s way at the moment. After two big wins over the USA (14-104) and Wales (10-45) the New Zealanders were expected to canter to victory over Italy, and while they did register a rather comfortable 9-47 win, they were far from fluid during the fixture with most of their points coming against tired Italian legs in the final quarter of the game.
That should have been something of an omen heading into last weekend’s Test against Ireland where they once again off the boil. Unlike against the Italinas, the All Blacks would pay the price against the Irish as they were outclassed going down 29-20 in Dublin.
The New Zealanders will need to improve drastically if they are to avoid their third defeat of the year. The first thing that needs to be sorted out is their gameplan. Or more specifically; adapting their ‘plan b’ which was to kick the ball with no purpose last weekend when they couldn’t outmuscle the Irish.
France had a far better time of it last weekend as they beat Georgia 41-15. This followed a 29-20 win over Argentina. With two wins under their belts, Le Bleu are looking solid heading into Saturday’s fixture.
In terms of team news for the weekend, the visitors will be sweating on the availability of Beauden Barrett who sustained a concussion last weekend. One man who will certainly not take to the field this Saturday is Anton Lienhardt Brown who dislocated his shoulder against the Irish. With Lienhardt-Brown out, we’re likely to see Quinn Tupaea come into the 12 berth.
Verdict: France (+5.5) 9/10
I reckon this game will go down to the wire, which is why backing the hosts on the plus seems the most sensible of calls.
