PREVIEW: Rennie era begins against old foe France

All Blacks

1 hour agoBy: Lynn McConnell

Test rugby returns to Christchurch, and as One New Zealand Stadium makes its Test debut, it will also be the All Blacks’ first outing in the new Nations Championship against old foe France.

Follow all the action from the All Blacks Match Centre, with real-time scores, live stats and match updates from kick-off at 7.10pm NZST.

Old rivals, new stage

In 67 Tests between the two countries, New Zealand leads 51-15, with one drawn. The sides last met in a three-Test series in New Zealand, with the All Blacks completing a clean sweep, 31-27 in Dunedin, 43-17 in Wellington and 29-19 in Hamilton.

Heading into the Nations Championship, New Zealand is ranked second in the world, behind South Africa, on 90.33 points, while France is fourth on 87.46 points.

The Test is being refereed by Luke Pearce of England.

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Team selected on form

Dave Rennie:

New All Blacks coach Dave Rennie said the side selected for the first Test was forced by the quality of Super Rugby Pacific performances. He said: “We have selected an exciting blend of experience and youth.

“We know we will be facing a formidable French side with a strong set piece, kicking game and ability to keep the ball alive, so we will need to be physical, accurate and alert. We’ve worked hard and connected well over the past nine days. That clarity will give us the opportunity to express ourselves.”

Rennie didn’t think there would be too many arguments about Ruben Love starting at first five-eighths. “He sits between Cam [Roigard] and Jordie [Barrett], which will give him a lot of comfort with combination and connection. He’s really confident and clear.” The choice of Damian McKenzie at fullback and Will Jordan on the wing fitted the type of game the All Blacks want to play. “Will will get his hands on the ball a lot and having a couple of guys in the backfield with that sort of skill set, we’ll have a crack when it’s on.” The choice of Luke Jacobson would give them a physical presence in the tight. “Both Pete [Lakai] and Ardie [Savea] will also give us post-tackle presence. They’re excellent athletes who suit our type of game.”

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Rennie also defined the optimism he wants the All Blacks to play with. He said: “Optimism is a mindset around how do you score from here? If the opposition spill a ball, or we get an advantage five metres from our line, we’re thinking, how do we score from here? But optimism is also around your work ethic. So, if we’re optimistic, we’ll get people back and into position quickly so we can play. It doesn’t mean we’re not going to kick. We’ll still kick a lot, but we want to kick on our terms.”

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France ready for challenge

Fabien Galthie:

“This is an opportunity for us to challenge as many of the best French rugby players as possible. We’re arriving with a team that isn’t just the French national team, but the best French team at the moment. It’s a fantastic opportunity for the players. They all have something to achieve, points to score, one year before the World Cup. This competition will add a spectacular dimension to world rugby. There is a strong desire among the players to be part of it; this format makes them want to get on the bus.

“New Zealand are the second-best team in the world, behind South Africa, chasing first place, the only one that interests them. They have a new coach and they haven’t played for eight months...we’re in for a treat.”

‘Being brilliant at basics’ first goal for All Blacks

Being clear and simple in their aspirations will be the key for the All Blacks in their first outing of the winter. That was new assistant coach Neil Barnes’ summation of the week’s preparation in Christchurch. ‘Renns’ [coach Dave Rennie] has been talking the whole time about ‘being brilliant at basics,’ he said. New to the All Blacks’ environment, Barnes said it was exciting. “It’s been a long time coming and a lot of work going in to get here. Our coaching group is coming together well too. The cohesion’s getting higher and higher as the week progresses.” Barnes is confident the All Blacks can defuse the likely French use of the box kick. “We’ve got people that can handle it. If people want to kick us the ball, we’ll be doing our best to retrieve it. We’ve got a plan around that, and we might even try and use it.” As the lineout coach, Barnes said all the locks work well together and have played together before. “They’ve got things that need to impress upon us that they need to be able to do, and we’ll select accordingly.” He is also expecting a strong French approach. “I’m not buying into this rubbish that they’re bringing a B team. They’ve got great depth and we’ve got to applaud them for what they’ve created. It’s a French team, they’ll be able to play, they’ll be physical and we’re going to have to be at our best to beat them.”

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Jordie Barrett: ‘Nervousness, excitement, anticipation’

Second five-eighths Jordie Barrett said a change in the coaching regime had a mixed outcome. Several aspects have remained, but the new coaches have brought subtle differences and ideas. “There’s a little bit of nervousness, excitement and a bit of anticipation to start learning about these coaches as people, new players in the group. It’s a fresh group and another opportunity. We’ve got so many great things on the horizon – Nations Cup, South African tour, Northern tour, World Cup – we all know is coming up. We don’t have a lot of time before a first Test, and something the players are going to try to guarantee each other is we’re going to be committed to whatever the plan is. The plan that I’m looking at, at the moment is a good plan that hopefully pays dividends on Saturday night. Some of the measurables that Dave’s already spoken about is our ability to get off the ground and work, that’s a fundamental of the game. It’s moving faster and teams are being a little more ambitious.”

The teams are:

New Zealand – 1.Ethan de Groot, 2.Codie Taylor, 3.Fletcher Newell, 4.Josh Lord, 5.Sam Darry, 6.Peter Lakai, 7.Luke Jacobson, 8.Ardie Savea (captain), 9.Cam Roigard, 10.Ruben Love, 11.Caleb Clarke, 12.Jordie Barrett, 13.Quinn Tupaea, 14.Will Jordan, 15.Damian McKenzie.

Substitutes: 16.Asafo Aumua, 17.Xavier Numia, 18.Tyrel Lomax, 19.Patrick Tuipulotu, 20.Wallace Sititi, 21.Cortez Ratima, 22.Billy Proctor, 23.Fehi Fineanganofo.

France – 1.Jefferson Poirot, 2.Maxime Lamothe, 3.Demba Bamba, 4.Hugo Auradou, 5.Tom Staniforth, 6.Pierre Bochaton, 7.Oscar Jegou, 8.Marko Gazzotti, 9.Maxime Lucu (captain), 10.Matthieu Jalibert, 11.Theo Attissogbe, 12.Yoram Moefana, 13.Fabien Brau-Boirie, 14.Damian Penaud, 15.Max Spring.

Substitutes: 16.Barnabe Massa, 17.Reda Wardi, 18.Regis Montagne, 19.Mickael Guillard, 20.Killiam Tixeront, 21.Nolann Le Garrec, 22.Antoine Hastoy, 23.Nicolas Depoortere.