Sam Whitelock scuffles with French players. Photo / Photosport
Sam Whitelock scuffles with French players. Photo / Photosport
There's sometimes a troubling ignorance within New Zealand rugby circles that borders on being disrespectful if not arrogant.
The French have picked their squad for next month's three-test series against the All Blacks and already, it seems, many Kiwis have decided that a second rate group is coming to play second rate rugby.
The basis for reaching this conclusion is the absence of regular captain Guilhem Guirado and a few others who played against the All Blacks in November last year.
But to have reached the view that France are coming with a squad that won't want to be here with too many players that shouldn't be here, is dangerously wrong.
It's a failure to realise that the French are in the midst of a long-overdue rejuvenation under new coach Jacques Brunel who seems to have lit a few fires within the leading French players.
France are reawakening under Brunel. The results since he took over late last year may not be overwhelmingly supportive of that, but performances have been.
The French finished the Six Nations with two victories against Italy and England, but they know they should really have beaten Ireland.
They dominated them physically the same way they did England, but Ireland found a way to land a drop goal four minutes after the final whistle to salvage victory.
Sonny Bill Williams tackled by Yoann Huget and Mathieu Bastareaud. Photo / Photosport
In their losses to Scotland and Wales, again they were maybe just one or two poor decisions away from victory and in both, they impressed with the way they offloaded and found space.
France are building a creative and effective style of play under Brunel and they finished the Six Nations a considerably better side than when they started.
And the style and vision are important, because the reports coming from the various French club coaches is that a wider group of players are suddenly enthused and excited about the direction in which the national team are heading.
The best French players are now eager to wear the national jersey and take the team higher up the world rankings.
That, probably, hasn't been the case in the last decade. France lost their way as an international side some time ago and they have been mostly flat and largely disappointing since they pulled off the major surprise of reaching the 2011 World Cup final.
They haven't had a discernable style or mission statement. But they do now and Brunel has obviously connected with the players and restored their passion for test football; helped them see there is more to rugby life than their respective clubs.
France may have been a good candidate to underperform in the past; to come out for a three-test series with their heart not really in it.
But not this year and that's partly why there was an element of tension between the All Blacks and Super Rugby coaches earlier this year when plans were first mooted about holding training camps this week and next.
Some Super Rugby coaches are believed to have said that they felt the All Blacks were going overboard in their preparation as, after all, it was only the French they were playing.
Clermont's Wesley Fofana scores a try. Photo / Photosport
The other factor that has been missed in New Zealand is that the French have considerable depth within their ranks and they have picked a 32-man squad that has ample potential to win the series.
The returning Wesley Fofana is a world-class centre, wing Teddy Thomas is one of the best finishers in the game and in Europe they argue there isn't a better scrummaging prop than Rabah Slimani.
It's a touch arrogant to believe that because some of the names picked aren't familiar over here, that France are below strength.
There is no such thing these days in the upper echelons of the game where the top nations have the ability to cope and play well even if half or more of their regular squad are ruled out.
After all, the All Blacks only lost twice last year yet 10 senior players were unavailable for most of the season. Scotland were supposedly fielding their second team at Murrayfield last year and they came perilously close to beating the All Blacks.
Be it ignorance, arrogance or laziness that is the cause, the view that the French won't challenge in June is plain wrong and it shouldn't be a massive surprise if they win or at least come close to winning, at least one test if not two.
