Oh where to begin, where to begin - For a start we played Argentina in Benous Aires - and unless I don't know my Geography, last time I checked Benous Aires was not in New Zealand, but indeed, in Argentina... therefore it can't really be counted as an All Black home game.[/b]
I said 'All the talk of NZ having talent to burn could only
scrape home wins against Argentina and Ireland.' scrape home doesn-t constitute playing -at home-.....
You say to ignore the 47-3 thrashing of the French IN France because it was an experimental team - but you take the Ireland and Argentina tests (which all 3 were won by NZ) as reasons why we won't win... sadly for you and whole arguement, it kind of goes out the window with the fact that the AB team in those 3 tests were experimental as they come, but hey, who needs to do 30 seconds research when you can just talk bullshit..[/b]
Yes, ignore it. The NZ team is similar to what will play in the World Cup. All players will certainly make the 30, excluding injured players of course.
15 MacDonald, 14 Rokocoko, 13 Smith, 12 McAlistair, 11 Sivivatu, 10 Carter, 9 Weepu, 8 So-oialo, 7 McCaw, 6 Collins, 5 Williams, 4 Ryan, 3 Hayman, 2 Oliver, 1 Woodcock
All bar Ryan, who is injured, are going to the World Cup and most will be in the starting XV. In contrast that French team is a lot different to the team that won the 6 Nations and the team that is going to play in the World Cup.
Team that lost 47-3 to NZ on the left. Team that is now playing on the right in bold.
1 Marconnet
Milloud
2 Szarzewski
Ibañez
3 de Villiers
de Villiers / Mas
4 Pelous
Nallet
5 Papé
Thion
6 Dusautoir
Betsen
7 Bonnaire
Bonnaire
8 Vermeulen
Chabal / Harinordoquy / Vermeulen
9 Yachvili
Mignoni
10 Traille
Beauxis / Skrela
11 Dominici
Dominici
12 Jauzion
Jauzion
13 Fritz
Marty
14 Rougerie
Heymans / Clerc
15 Laharrague
Poitrenaud
The differences are phenomenal. Its a maximum of 5 players from that game now making the first choice French side. That French team that NZ smashed was certinaly not the team that is now playing and won the 6N..... :cheers:
You can say I'm talking bullshit. But perhaps I know my rugby? :bleh!:
NZ are excellent, everyone knows this but their strngthes are set to be overturned. McCaw's cheating over the past 4 years is now falling through as he continously gets penalised (for doing the same things he has always done but never got penalised for) and he is getting frequent yellow cards.
Also - what rock have you been living under? When was the last time the All Black foward pack were troubled come scrum time? If I didn't know better I would suspect you are still stuck in 2002 - Or maybe you just don't watch Rugby? Would probably explain how you formulated your conclusion with the reasons you used.[/b]
France lose matches when they are pushed around, thats no secret. England did it in the 6N, Scotland did it in 2006, Argentina in 2004, and NZ did it in 2006. France have responded by selecting Milloud and Ibanez as their first choice players (ahead of flashy players esp Szarzewski) and using a great scrumager, Nicolas Mas in some of the 6N matches. France were just as good as NZ in the scrums against Wales.
In terms of the rest, its best to not say such things when you don-t know who the French players are. You can say NZ will win as long as you like but you should investigate different challenging teams first to get a better understanding of the World Cup. Everyone knows what to expect from NZ. The same is not true for South Africa and certainly not for France. Suggesting they are going to lose because NZ recorded big wins in 2006 over both countries is guess work.
