Wynne Gray: How to avoid another French insult

The French will be oozing with confidence after their win at Carisbrook. Photo / Getty Images

It was one of those golden Eden Park moments. Not for the All Blacks but for the visiting French as they claimed a first series win in New Zealand.

Those with a razor recollection will note it was the 15th anniversary yesterday of that famous Tricolores victory when fullback Jean-Luc Sadourny completed the "Try From the End of the Earth" to steal the match and the series.

For long-time Eden Park spectators it was a special episode in rugby watching at the historic arena, one to rank in post-war years with Peter Jones' try against the Springboks in 1956, the waterpolo test against Scotland in 1975, Allan Hewson's match-winning penalty against the Boks in the flour-bomb test in 1981 and the World Cup triumph in 1987.

All were memorable for a mixture of reasons - exhilarating play, extreme circumstances, enormous tension and the creation of history.

In 1994 there was a lot of pressure on the home team. Increased heat was coming on All Blacks coach Laurie Mains who had succeeded Alex Wyllie in another of the highly debated and contentious appointments of the 1990s.

Mains had gathered enough political clout to see off his nearest rival, John Hart, and in his first two years in charge had accumulated an 11-win-five-loss record.

Nothing flash, but nothing too damning. He had recovered from an embarrassing international coaching debut defeat against a World XV, to be edged out in a thrilling away series against the Wallabies balanced by a win against the Boks in Johannesburg as the All Blacks became the first country to tour the Republic after isolation.

Mains' men then ground out a series win against the Lions before losing at Twickenham against England in a patchy end of year match.

When the All Blacks also fell 8-22 at Christchurch against France in the start of their 1994 campaign, the clamour for coaching change started to gain momentum.

Much like the current mob, the All Blacks of that era had experience in the front five and back three but were exposed in the middle section. Teenage sensation Jonah Lomu had been wheeled out for this first test in Christchurch but looked like he was in Cannes.

He was retained for the next test at Eden Park but Simon Mannix played his solitary test at Lancaster Park before he was replaced by the equally uncertain Stephen Bachop. No8 Arran Pene gave way to local hero Zinzan Brooke in the other change for the second test in Auckland.

Despite some patchy moments, the All Blacks appeared to have reversed their fortunes until very late in the test. Bachop angled a kick deep into the French 22 but it did not find touch.

French captain Philippe Saint-Andre retrieved the ball, set up a midfield ruck and many passes later Sadourny plunged across the line for the victorious French try.

Current touring assistant coach Emile Ntmack was in the middle of the mayhem as the All Black defenders were turned inside out, flummoxed and outwitted.

France had won 23-20, the nation was in shock, disbelief and meltdown.

Defeat meant the third successive test loss and second on home soil for the All Blacks. Somehow the entire pack was retained for the next (victorious) test against the Springboks at Carisbrook but there were backline casualties. Stu Forster, Matthew Cooper and Lomu all went. It was a tough time.

Tomorrow Graham Henry and his coaching and playing crew face similar inquisition from the French.

Henry is this country's most successful coach with 55 wins from the 64 tests in which he has guided the side.

Until last year, at Dunedin, his All Black sides had never lost at home. Then they lost the following match in Sydney before reclaiming their captain and their composure at Eden Park.

The heat this week is just as pointed after a modest season start against the French in Dunedin. In most areas of that match, save the lineout and mid-game recovery, the All Blacks were second. From the frontrow difficulties on the tighthead side of the scrum, the problems reverberated back through the side.

They are without the talismanic Richie McCaw and Daniel Carter who guided them out of last year's trough, they have made some more looseforward switches and been able to welcome back the sensible Conrad Smith. The scrum will have been doing overtime to get the setpiece functioning and their minds will be highly concentrated.

The danger will be that they are over-hyped, overly-concerned, over-twitchy about mistakes and will not let their natural instincts flow. They must somehow find ice-cold temperaments in the white-hot test atmosphere. Much easier said than done, especially against a French side which is oozing confidence after their Carisbrook win.

They feel they can play with the same ferocity again, the same defensive power but slip their attacking leash a little more. The poodles have turned into the pitbulls, they can smell a further victim at the CakeTin.

It is a heat Henry and his crew have faced, infrequently, at home. It is nothing like the blowtorch pressure which engulfed Hart and Co in 1998 when they lost five in succession home and away. Even if the All Blacks are runners-up again this weekend, they know they can beat Italy the following week in Christchurch.

They will not be thinking like that though. Their only focus will be on remedying their defects from Carisbrook and getting a W in the results column. They will be, or should be, treating this match like a World Cup shootout match without the knockout they suffered two years ago in Cardiff. They need to carry a needs-must mentality into this test, whatever it takes to win this international.

Unlike 15 years ago at Eden Park, the All Blacks need to make their touchfinders, make the tackles they missed in Dunedin, they need to shore up the scrum and be more effective at the breakdowns, they have to counter the rolling mauls, they have to show they can play better footy, they need to show they have learned.

It may be a tough initiation for some of the younger players but this is test rugby, top of the pile, where there is much greater expectation. Players are expected to have learned by the time they graduate to this echelon. It may be too tough for some but tomorrow will be another fascinating exam.