Vive L‘Ovalie.

Excellent. I was always looking forward to the Wellington test against France because I figured it would be a match between two first string teams. It has not panned out that way; NZ have had a shocker of selection rout, and France’s supposed second stringers (well, less Clermont-Auvergne and Perpignan players) beat us.

I was in Cardiff for the quarter final defeat, and saw this as our chance to redress the balance in the All Black’s favour. It has not panned out that way, and now we are fighting to save the series. We are also trying to stop a team getting 3 from 3 against us. What other country can claim that as a record?

We write Les Bleus off at our peril. We can’t just lump the Top 14 in with the English Premiership and label it all “boring Northern Hemisphere rugby”. They came to play. They beat us. They, literally, maulled us.

I’d replace the Powerade logo on those training tops with ‘Must try harder’.

Now Henry & Co. have to deliver. They have a tendency to nail their colours to certain players very quickly, elevating them to the Test team one week, then dropping them next week when it does not come off. I know we are depleted by injury, but bar Cory Jane & Bard Thorne in Dunedin, we were piss poor and off the pace. Complacent. The brains trust have had a week to counter Picamoles, Ouedraogo and Dusautoir, as well as the rush defence that blitzed us.
Chabal is a side show. If our loosies don’t front up, we’ll lose again.

No.s 1,2,3,6,7,8,9,10, 12 and 13 all need to dig deep. And can we end the Toeava experiment? If a coach says his future is at 15 then why persist with dumping the kid in at centre in Tests? No wonder he can’t settle. Looking forward to Smith & Nonu paying together - its a chance for them to step up and prove they are a winning combo.

Its not the end of the world as its so early in the season, and the reaction was always going to be more along the lines of serious navel gazing than real fan outrage because its the French. You can’t hate the French ... they play the kind of rugby we espouse as our own. Enjoy it. There is nothing wrong with losing to a better, classier team. Frankly, if the French play as well this week, and beat a lacklustre NZ side again, I would not be sad.

If the rain stays away it should be a cracker, and I hope the atmosphere builds to match the game’s significance. I hope we throw the proverbial kitchen sink at them - treat it as a knockout match and drop them on the canvas. Ding ding. KO. And then the first Lions/Springbok Test is on at 1am. Ouch.

Vive L‘Ovalie. Allez les noirs!