WXV: New Zealand make a handful of changes in preparation for France

The granting of an historical 4 year full contract to Kennedy Tukuafu remains Bunting's most puzzling decision. At 26, she had offered little of the on-field quality deserving of such status. Her relegation v FRA was imminent imo & Bunting gets kudos for this decision. I would've tossed her completely, myself. In all tests this tour, she has been ineffective & doesn’t seem to have a point of difference (required of a loosie). Jackaling, high tackle rate, clean, carry, ???

Another puzzling selection is Bunting continuing to use our best 6 Alana Bremner 178cm & 77kg at lock in place of our best lock, Chelsea Bremner, 181cm & 88kg. Maia Roos at 179cm & 80kg needs a big body at her side. Neither she nor Alana are power locks.

I'd reshuffle the back 5 as follows:

4 Roos 5 Chelsea 6 Alana 7 Sae 8 Mikaele-Tuu with Olsen Baker bench impact. Alana is an option to cover lock, if required.

One huge issue I have with this team is that the same core backline that leaked a million tries from set play v ENG is taking the field. Sure, FRA got thrashed by CAN, but it's still FRA, quite capable of stepping up & blasting us. What will be different? Backfield comms? Midfield reads? Scary stuff.

Would look bad if it just came out of the blue.

I'm suggesting that when was the last time the All Blacks toured France (and won) that gave them the impetus to do likewise to them back in New Zealand?

The 1996 Springbok tour was so epic not just because they hadn't won the previous year but because South Africa gave it to them often when they toured NZ (in part ayway).

There's enough options (class ones' not the Blackadders) at 6 and 8 now to say thank you to Sam Cane to binding the team together but now is you're time to cash in overseas.

South Africa could be stuck in a domestic competition that doesn't want to evolve with them, where so many players are locked out behind one team for a large part/half of the year.

Why wait? Do you think Rassie is a coach to rest?

The AB's are following Rassie's playbook of valueing experience. The players in NZ aren't quite at the same cycle as what Rassie has chosen to do this year, that is still a year or two off imo.

That a British & Irish (possibly) league is the best fit for a sport like Rugby in that area is unchallengeable.

That South Africa need something that offers better player welfare is unchallengeable.

That the game is going to grow in the rest of Europe and Africa is inevitable, as is that those nations are going to need a competition to call their own.

I see all three of these aligning in the perfect world.

Rassie is giving many more debuts this year than at any previous point since 2019. To whatever extent he is rewarding form now, he rewarded it less before.

Marcell Coetzee was in great form in 2020-21 but wasn't picked. Senatla, Zas, and Grobbelaar were in 2021-22. Daniel du Plessis in 2022-23. Akker van der Merwe and Cameron Hanekom in 2023-24.

Martin, Feyi-Waboso, Freeman, Cunningham-South, are all more integral to England than SFM and Moodie are to SA.

Firstly I didn’t state that the French psyche has “been impacted by invasion and how that has lead to French teams not touring overseas”. For the record, my opinion comments on the French rugby team touring were “they have close to zero interest in touring, never have and never will. It’s embedded in their dna. It’s just the way they see the world, rightly or wrongly.” and “France just don’t have the traditions of touring and therefore don’t place the same importance to it as most other nations, so this compromise is sensible for them”. Given your propensity to make noise of little to no value with your comments, I guess it’s not too surprising that you have misinterpreted my comments and entirely misquoted me.

Secondly I note that following your earlier baseless assertion that I had levelled personal insults in your direction, you have in fact resorted to exactly this behaviour in your limited and stilted reply above.

Thirdly you have absolutely no idea what my connections are to France and what level of insight I possess regarding French culture, yet still you feel qualified to judge. A textbook example in assuming your presumed knowledge is superior I’d say!

Fourthly you have failed, yet again, to provide ANY opinion on the salient points of the rugby discussion stream. Not at all surprising by this stage but worth highlighting nonetheless.

And finally, your continued stream of noise is tedious, repetitive and entirely unimaginative. Is that really the best you can do???