New Zealand haven’t finished protesting yet but French minds seemed set when head coach Fabien Galthié announced last year that the 20 premium players were part of the national team working hand-in-hand with the Top 14 clubs so “players can give the best of themselves in the French team but also in clubs”.
Rest, in other words.
Galthié cited player development too, saying such a selection was nothing new – the 2021 tour of Australia had similarly been populated by little-known players, with France “building on trust”. Interesting choice of words. New Zealand Rugby and fans trust that visiting teams will bring their strongest combination.
It’s kind of – oh, I don’t know – essential for the health of international sport.
It will also be interesting to see whether the crowds stay away if Les Bleus bring a side more likely to be tagged Les Ennuyeux (The Dull). The test against Wales showed some of what we’ll be missing, with Dupont replaced after 50 minutes, having sparked France to a 28-0 halftime lead by setting up three of their four tries.
For the first, he went on one of his trademark, slightly backwards, sevens-style, angled runs from a ruck before a perfect kick-pass for young winger Théo Attissogbé to score. He also fashioned a huge cut-out pass for the other winger, Louis Bielle-Biarrey, to touch down but the pièce de résistance was his run through the heart of the Wales defence.
He broke the tackle of a loose forward and sidestepped Wales and Lions fullback Liam Williams so cleanly that he didn’t lay a finger on him. Dupont could have scored himself had he not passed to Attissogbé to score. It looked suspiciously forward but such is the mana of the man almost universally hailed as the world’s best player that no one argued; the video ref stayed silent.
He is maybe accorded a bit much respect at times (the world used to say that about Richie McCaw) but we are unlikely to see how he’ll cope out here. “Tony Bridge” will be having a bit of R&R instead.
Maybe the French are still smarting about 1986, when a strong French side was humbled by an All Blacks team of such greenness they were known as the “Baby Blacks”. That’s maybe what New Zealand should do again.
Why not? There is a need, after a two-steps-forward-one-back 2024 season for the All Blacks, to grow their depth – as France have done.
Why not field a side against the second-stringers in all three tests that aims to grow test match experience in positions where it’s needed: lock, openside flanker, No. 8, halfback, first-five and the midfield, off the top of my head.
New Zealand needs more depth because of the retirement/move overseas of many top players after the 2023 World Cup; the next one isn’t far away and already some second-tier players have figured out their place in the pecking order and have opted for big cheques instead.
Robertson will likely be primarily concerned about his win-loss record and fair enough – but imagine the outcry if a heavily diluted French side tipped over a full-strength All Blacks team.
Won’t happen? In 1994, France were a distant third in the Five Nations and lost to Canada, North Harbour and Hawke’s Bay but famously beat the All Blacks twice, in Christchurch and Eden Park. Better surely for the All Blacks to field an experimental side this time to serve two purposes: gaining experience/depth and providing something worth mentioning if the unmentionable happens.
France’s strategy isn’t just about rest and depth – there is at least a soupçon of preserving their record (they’ve won the last three tests against the All Blacks) so any psychological edge can’t be blunted.
In 2021, that “trust” tour of Australia with a bunch of unheralded players saw France lose a close-fought series 2-1. However, French depth has grown hugely in recent years. The current 42-man squad for the Six Nations does not include injured players like powerful midfielder Jonathan Danty, veteran centre-wing Gaël Fickou and loose forward Charles Ollivon, while no place was found for another grizzled loosie, Anthony Jelonch, or prop Reda Wardi.
So sending a second- and third-string side out here is an insult but also seems quite smart, from a French perspective anyway. The French call it “Va te faire voir” – often translated as “get lost” but which was also the title of a 2011 song by Jean Schultheis. Its English title was “Go f*** yourself”.
New Zealand needs to respond in kind.
