All Blacks assistant coach Steve Hansen yesterday dismissed out of hand the idea that the France team selected for Saturday’s World Cup clash at Eden Park was a second-string outfit.
The front-page splash on yesterday’s edition of New Zealand’s biggest newspaper the Herald, described the much-anticipated match as a “French Farce” and accused France of fielding a “B team” for the Eden Park encounter.
“I think it’s a really good team,” Hansen told reporters “Their coach has picked what he thinks is the best team for the tournament. We’ll treat them with the utmost respect as we always do.”
Photo: AFP
France have famously sent the All Blacks out of two World Cups, most recently with their shock 20-18 victory in Cardiff in 2007.
The media accusations against France lay mainly in coach Marc Lievremont’s decision to hand Morgan Parra, normally a scrumhalf, his first start at flyhalf alongside Dimitri Yachvili at halfback for the Pool A showdown.
“You can say that it’s the first time they’ve picked that combination, because that’s a fact,” Hansen added. “But when we picked Ricahrd Kahui on the wing, everybody thought we were crazy. That hasn’t turned out too badly.”
“Who are we to suggest what is their best combination at halfback and first five for this Test match?” Hansen said.
France’s players also dismissed the theory.
“The local press must have scandals to sell newspapers,” second row Pascal Pape said. “It’s all part of the battle. The best answer will be brought on the pitch on Saturday, but it did make me smile.”
“It is a lack of respect for the players chosen for Saturday,” he added more seriously. “That motivates us more than it de-motivates us. It is extra motivation.”
Ireland’s shock victory over Australia last weekend, which looks like resulting in all the Tri-Nations teams ending up on the same side of the draw in the knockout phase, had triggered a swirl of conspiracy theories around the tournament.
The suggestion of the report in the Herald was that the France preferred not to win Saturday’s match so they could finish second in the group and get into the half of the draw likely to contain northern hemisphere teams.
Hansen said that for the All Blacks, and his former team Wales for that matter, such maneuvering would be unthinkable.
“If you’re suggesting we might underperform,” he said. “We’d get hung from the highest tree in New Zealand if we go out and try not to win a Test match, it’s just not in our psyche.”
“New Zealanders expect the All Blacks to go out and play their best every time they play and rightly so,” Hansen added.
Hansen also said flyhalf Dan Carter was fit to play and that Colin Slade remained the first choice back up at the No. 10 position.
As for Parra, Hansen said the All Blacks would make his first Test start at flyhalf as uncomfortable as possible.
“He’s playing in a position that internationally is new to him and clearly, it would be remiss of us if we didn’t pay him some attention,” he said.
HEATED RIVALRY: The pair had met 14 times previously, with Sabalenka winning eight of the encounters and entering the final as the favorite to take the title Elena Rybakina took revenge over world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka to win a nail-biting Australian Open final yesterday and clinch her second Grand Slam title. The big-serving Kazakh fifth seed held her nerve to pull through 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 at Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne in 2 hours, 18 minutes. It was payback after the Belarusian Sabalenka won the 2023 final between two of the hardest hitters in women’s tennis. The ice-cool Rybakina, 26, who was born in Moscow, adds her Melbourne triumph to her Wimbledon win in 2022. It was more disappointment in a major final for Sabalenka, who won the US Open
GUNNING FOR A WIN: The victory sending Arsenal to the final for the first time in six years was cathartic for a team who had lost their previous four semi-finals Arsenal on Tuesday reached the League Cup final for the first time in eight years as Kai Havertz sealed a 1-0 win against Chelsea in the semi-final second leg. Mikel Arteta’s side had put themselves in pole position in the first leg and Havertz came off the bench to finish the 4-2 aggregate victory in the closing moments at the Emirates Stadium. It was a cathartic triumph for the Gunners, who had lost their previous four semi-finals in last year’s UEFA Champions League and League Cup, the 2022 League Cup and the 2021 UEFA Europa League. In their first final for six years,
Denver superstar Nikola Jokic returned from a 16-game injury absence to post a 31-point, 12-rebound double-double on Friday and propel the Nuggets to a 122-109 NBA victory over the Los Angeles Clippers. Three-time NBA Most Valuable Player Jokic had not played since suffering a bone bruise in the left knee he hyperextended in a game against Miami on Dec. 29 last year. The Serbian big man did not miss a beat. He led all scorers, connecting on eight of 11 shots from the field, and also handed out five assists with three steals while playing just 24 minutes, 32 seconds as the
DEADLINE DAY: Rennes’ Jacquet had been linked with a transfer to Chelsea earlier this month, but was reportedly put off the move due to the Blues’ bloated squad Liverpool on Monday won the race to sign Stade Rennais defender Jeremy Jacquet on the quiet final day of the English Premier League transfer window, while Crystal Palace swooped for Wolverhampton Wanderers striker Jorgen Strand Larsen despite the collapse of Jean-Philippe Mateta’s move to AC Milan. The Reds agreed a reported fee of up to ￡60 million (US$82 million) for the highly rated Jacquet. However, the 20-year-old will not join the Premier League champions until the summer despite Liverpool’s need for defensive reinforcements. Jacquet had been linked with a transfer to Chelsea earlier this month, but was reportedly put off
RSS