League: Where hope springs eternal

CARCASSONNE - Coach Mick Aldous is not put off by France's underdog status, believing his team have the goods to beat New Zealand in their Remembrance Day test.

The Kiwis, who have a bye in the Tri-Nations tournament this week, will go into the match at Carcassonne, in the south of France, tomorrow morning (NZ time) as overwhelming favourites.

But Aldous, an Australian, said he had been instilling in his players an expectation of victory, not only over the Kiwis, but also over the Kangaroos in Toulouse on November 21.

"We definitely can beat New Zealand and Australia," he said. "There's no doubt in my mind about that. We certainly have the players to do it."

Aldous said the key was giving his squad the self-belief to overcome the ingrained French attitude that they were league minnows.

"We've been able to make a bit of a paradigm shift and get into the heads of the younger guys that it's possible to beat these nations with some preparation."

The 17 that Aldous has named for the match at Stade Albert Domec contains seven survivors of the last meeting between France and New Zealand, in Perpignan two years ago when the Kiwis won 36-10.

There are two new caps in winger Damien Couturier and 19-year-old lock Gregory Mounis, and two players with English experience in Wakefield Trinity forward Olivier Elima and Featherstone half Maxime Greseque.

Although Featherstone were keen to re-sign Greseque for next season after his stint there this year, he has decided to return to France to complete his law studies.

The French have a reasonable record historically against New Zealand, winning 14 of 49 tests and drawing five.

However, the Chanticleers' last victory was 16 tests and 24 long years ago.

Their build-up to the latest clash involved the European Nations Cup, and their two pools matches last month ended in a 58-10 away win over Russia and a 42-4 home loss to England.

Aldous saw positive signs in the defeat at Avignon, saying his side were competitive against what he described as Great Britain B for all but the second quarter and the final few seconds.

The French conceded five converted tries in the 18 minutes before halftime and had their line crossed again in the last minute.

"It was only that period of concentration lapses where we weren't competitive, and the second half was all square until the last 30 seconds," Aldous said.

Aldous, 42, has been in France for seven weeks of an initial six-month contract as part of the French preparations for the 2008 World Cup.

He is known to New Zealand coach Daniel Anderson from his work in player development in the New South Wales Rugby League.

He played for Canberra in the 1980s and is a close friend with former Kiwis prop Brent Todd, who arrived at the club when Aldous had just retired and moved into administration.


- NZPA