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'Things will fall into place': All Blacks stress forward pack dominance
By Ned Lester
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.
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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.
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“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.
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“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.”
