Forwards provide fizz for backs to run riot

Richie McCaw was as omnipresent as ever as part of a dominant forward pack. Photo / Brett Phibbs

It was Champagne rugby by the All Blacks backs against France at the Millennium Stadium, but they were toasting the efforts of their forwards afterwards.

There was a suspicion after the French lost their final pool game to Ireland on this ground a week ago that they were vulnerable to a fired-up and direct side, but there hasn't been a lot of evidence of that among the All Blacks' performances at this World Cup - the second halves of their victories over Argentina and Tonga excepted.

This time the big men stepped it up, and the backs, who scored six of the nine tries, cashed in. They were brutal against the French, with loose forward Jerome Kaino having one of his best tests for years, and it was backed up with skill from locks Brodie Retallick and Sam Whitelock, No8 Kieran Read, and even props Owen Franks, Charlie Faumuina and Joe Moody.

Skipper Richie McCaw, omnipresent as usual, got a sly punch from No8 Louis Picamoles, which saw the Frenchman get a yellow card in the second half, for his efforts, but neither he nor coach Steve Hansen was interested in making much of it afterwards.

Instead, it was the overall team effort that was praised, and in particular the new level reached by the pack.

"I thought it was one of the best team performances we've seen in a long time," backs coach Ian Foster said. "We got a good platform, we got a lot of quick ball, a lot of quality ball from our forwards, and the interchange I thought between the backs and forwards was excellent.

"The wings and outside backs did what they had to do but that's all from the forwards, to be honest."

Dan Carter, back to his best and making a mockery of the criticism which has come his way recently, said the forwards responded to a message at the start of the week.

"It's made easier when the guys around you are playing as well as they did tonight. I was pleased with my performance but probably more pleased with the way the team performed from No1 to No23 and the guys who came off the bench really added something.

"To get that dominance up front from the forwards - they really increased their physicality. It was put on them at the start of the week to increase that. Some of those tries were pretty special and the guys out wide were able to finish those."

Carter, who kicked eight from 10 kicks at goal and provided a supreme assist for one of Julian Savea's three tries, said the All Blacks always possessed the self belief needed to put the French away.

"The pool stage wasn't perfect but we were trying certain things and it was all gearing towards this game here. This was our final tonight.

"It wasn't always technically perfect but the desire was there and the guys were playing for each other tonight. That showed in some of the awesome tries we scored but more importantly in our defence. We were coming up together and the physicality was great."

The All Blacks' scrum was solid, although as there were only seven in the whole match it was hard to get a good gauge on it. What was clear, however, was how the team are turning kick-offs into a ball-retaining weapon.

Whitelock and Read worked in tandem to catch or slap back the perfectly-weighted kicks provided by Carter in a tactic the All Blacks have been wary about showing thus far.

Whitelock said: "We want to have threats across the board so teams don't know where we are going to kick. Obviously tonight it all worked pretty well."