Wales lock Ben Carter commits to Dragons in 'statement' deal

Kolbe is all ours.

My recent experience in France bears that out, Nick. The Perpignon v Pau game I went to see was pretty close to a sellout, even though neither team was at full strength. The small stadiums help. Stade Aime Giral, Perpignan, seats 9700, with standing space at ground level for, at a guess, another 2000. The city has a population of 121000.

Looking at other Top 14 Stadiums, Pau's Stade du Hameau holds 14000, Recently promoted Vannes Stade de la Rabine a bit over 11000. Even Toulouse's Stade Ernest-Wallon only holds 33000, La Rochelle's Stade Marcel-Deflandre 16700. The latter may be out of date, as when passing through la Rochelle in June '23, there was extensive construction work on one stand. I was told it is very hard to get a ticket to any LAR home game.

The proof shall be in the pudding in November. An unmitigated disaster. Or a fabulous success. Which I doubt.

Reece at least earned his place through a dynamite Super Rugby season. But so many players who were equally, if not more influential in Super Rugby were overlooked for players who are clearly not match fit or not in the type of form to warrant selection. Many players rushed back from injury only to play poorly and/or get injured again. Many players undercooked on the back of seasons in Japan.

A team stacked with Crusaders after their abysmal season is the definition of playing provincial favourites.

So maybe Razor wants to win games, but also wants to put in place some of the foundations that he thinks will position NZ for long term success. And maybe he feels that he needs some of the experienced test (and Crusaders) players to help put in place those foundations.

I think NZ fans would prefer a bad season or two, followed by some years of excellence, vs an ongoing competitive record that never rises to #1. For me the question is not whether or not his selections are achieving the goal of winning games in 2024, but whether those selections are achieving the goal of rebuilding the fundamentals of the team in a forward-looking fashion.

And quite honestly I do think that is taking place. I think he is establishing who they want to be and how they want to play, and will bring in new blood in due course. If that's right then 2025 season will see him start building test caps for his 2027 RWC squad, and 2026 will see him delivering a baseline for NZ excellence, while keeping some RWC surprises off the tape.

If that is approximately right then getting upset about his selections in 2024 may be to miss the point.