Rugby: Darn right he's got Les Bleus

French lock Pascal Pape has his own demons to exorcise when the All Blacks' international rugby season opens against the Tricolores tonight.

The All Blacks who trudged off Cardiff's Millennium Stadium 20 months ago might use their rugby World Cup quarter-final devastation as motivation but Pape has an equally burning incentive.

It has been two years since he led France on their most disastrous excursion to New Zealand.

Then a second rower at Castres, the club's failure to qualify for the latter stages of the French domestic competition condemned Pape to be the figurehead of a mishmash of one-test blunders and yesterday's men.

What should have been an honour was instead a thankless task - a French squad missing representatives from the Top 14's semifinalists was never going to be a match for the All Blacks.

"It was very complicated," said Pape, recalling his first visit to New Zealand.

"I knew leaving Charles de Gaulle [airport] it was going to be impossible and that I could only do the best I can."

It would never be enough, though, and Pape cut a dazed and confused figure on Eden Park after the French were routed 42-11.

He took a big knock during the second half and has vague recollections of that heavy defeat.

He was close to the mark with one match statistic, though: "We only had four or five players that had been capped."

Pape actually led on 11 debutants that night - only one, flanker Damien Chouly, is in the current tour party.

Worse was to follow in Wellington a week later. Three more rookies were subjected to a more polished All Black performance as the French capitulated to a 61-10 defeat - their worst on record.

Pape's torment did not end there. Five days later his name was missing when Bernard Laporte chose Fabien Pelous, Lionel Nallet and Jerome Thion as his locks for the World Cup.

"That was a bitter disappointment," said Pape, who watched France's quarter-final boilover from a distance.

"It is one of my biggest regrets, not playing in the World Cup whether it be the quarterfinal game or against Georgia."

Pape has played only one test since June 2007 - the Six Nations loss to England in February last year. Other options were preferred, then his right knee required surgery, ruling him out for seven months.

The 28-year-old, now at Stade Francais, made his comeback only partly through the Top 14 but performed well enough to be one of new coach Marc Lievremont's first choice locks.

Pape partners the relatively new Romain Millo-Chluski against Brad Thorn and All Black debutant Isaac Ross - and the former skipper is feeling more at ease ahead of his 20th test.

"I think we have the team to compete with the Blacks. In a way it is easier now."

- NZPA