The All Blacks put a halt yesterday to a week of mud-slinging about a sub-standard French rugby side as they switched their focus to lifting their own performance in the second Test today.
Coach Graham Henry has faced up to the All Blacks' own slipshod effort in last week's 42-11 demolition of the French, and will field a sterner looking forward pack in the search for a more comprehensive display.
"We need to step up from last week, we'd like to play better as a team," Henry said, while captain Richie McCaw described last week's effort as "flat" and said what was good enough then will not be good enough now.
France, meanwhile, have been fired up on two fronts.
They want to prove they are a better outfit than that which copped withering criticism from Henry following the first Test.
It is also their last chance to impress selectors before the French World Cup squad is named next week, factors not lost on Henry who is expecting a more determined effort from France.
"I think the French boys will play exceptionally well at the weekend. I think that'll help the game," he said.
Henry angered the French with accusations of deliberate time-wasting and not fully contesting the scrums in the first Test.
French coach Bernard Laporte fired back that the All Blacks had shown a lack of respect to France, and denied his players faked injuries.
But the All Blacks mentor backtracked yesterday, claiming he was making a general statement about the state of the game and Laporte had taken it too personally.
Laporte said his forwards faced a tough task against a bigger All Blacks pack.
"Some things can't be repaired. There are things you can't do because if you are 15kg lighter, you simply get smashed," he said.
SSC Napoli’s Italian Serie A title hopes suffered a late setback on Sunday when they were held to a 2-2 draw at home against Genoa, setting up a thrilling season finale with closest rivals Inter just one point behind. The hosts remain top with 78 points, holding a slim lead over Inter, who won 2-0 at Torino earlier on Sunday, with two rounds remaining. To make matters worse for Napoli, midfielder Stanislav Lobotka, struggling with an ankle injury, was forced off just minutes after the match began. Scott McTominay delivered a perfect pass into the box where Romelu Lukaku got
Harry Kane opened the scoring ahead of lifting his first career silverware as Bayern Munich beat Borussia Moenchengladbach 2-0, with veteran Thomas Mueller playing his last home game for the club. Bayern officially won the title on May 4 when defending champions Bayer Leverkusen were held to a 2-2 draw at Freiburg, but were presented with the Bundesliga shield in front of their home fans at full-time. Dripping wet after being showered with beer by teammates, Kane said the title win was “an incredible feeling,” and hoped it would be “the first of many.” “It’s been lot of hard work, a lot of
A stunning Lamine Yamal strike on Thursday helped crown Barcelona La Liga champions with a 2-0 win over local rivals RCD Espanyol, with victory ensuring Real Madrid cannot catch them at the top of the table. Yamal’s effort and Fermin Lopez’s goal took Hansi Flick’s side seven points clear of Los Blancos with two matches remaining, to clinch Barcelona’s 28th title and complete a superb domestic treble. Only the UEFA Champions League title escaped an exciting young Barca side this season, as they won the league for the second time in six years, at Espanyol’s ground again just as in 2022-2023. Back then,
Jannik Sinner on Thursday marched into the semi-finals of the Italian Open after destroying Casper Ruud in straight sets 6-0, 6-1, while Coco Gauff won a marathon three-set battle with China’s Zheng Qinwen to advance to the women’s singles final. American Gauff is to face Italy’s Jasmine Paolini in today’s title match after pulling through 7-6 (7/3), 4-6, 7-6 (7/4) in a match that lasted over three-and-a-half hours. Ruud was supposed to be Sinner’s toughest test in Rome since he came back from his three-month doping ban, as the Norwegian came into the match in hot form on clay after winning in
RSS