@Victor-Meldrew can remember when full strength All Black teams touring France use to struggle to put away French Divisional teams during the 80s and 90s ..
France have always had depth but issues in and around coaching and selection
These days the have 30 professional clubs including aligned academy’s
Money also trumps anything we see down here in NZ
@Steven-Harris said in 2025 All Blacks v France series:
@Victor-Meldrew can remember when full strength All Black teams touring France use to struggle to put away French Divisional teams during the 80s and 90s ..
France have always had depth but issues in and around coaching and selectionThese days the have 30 professional clubs including aligned academy’s
Money also trumps anything we see down here in NZ
They are also strategically recruiting big talented kids from Aussie and NZ too. The French systems are pretty impressive!
@Steven-Harris said in 2025 All Blacks v France series:
@Victor-Meldrew can remember when full strength All Black teams touring France use to struggle to put away French Divisional teams during the 80s and 90s ..
France have always had depth but issues in and around coaching and selectionThese days the have 30 professional clubs including aligned academy’s
Money also trumps anything we see down here in NZ
It isn't just money though. The FFR seems to have an actual plan.
@Victor-Meldrew no question but you must also remember throw 560,000 registered rugby players across 6 divisions a strong economy unlike NZ that has an economy that’s less than ideal at a time when young men working need to put food on the table or look at other options
Basketball is one of the faster growing sports in NZ taking many tall athletes off in a different direction ,also Rugby League with the popular NRL right on our doorstep with increased salaries that better anything the rugby in NZ offers under All Black level will also drag many promising rugby players to the 13 man game
Rugby at grassroots level is on life support at the minute
@Steven-Harris said in 2025 All Blacks v France series:
Basketball is one of the faster growing sports in NZ taking many tall athletes off in a different direction ,also Rugby League with the popular NRL right on our doorstep
I've been hearing that for about 30 years...
Reading Foster's book on @His-Bobness recommendation. Deserves a thread of its' own, but it's an indictment of NZR and it's lack of competence, in-fighting and putting commercial interests above the game.
@Bones said in 2025 All Blacks v France series:
@Steven-Harris said in 2025 All Blacks v France series:
Basketball is one of the faster growing sports in NZ taking many tall athletes off in a different direction ,also Rugby League with the popular NRL right on our doorstep
I've been hearing that for about 30 years...
Luckily there is a really good system bringing absolute units in from old Zealand
Btw, the weird thing about the French approach to this series is how do you explain to the players who acquited themselves well in Dunedin why they were left out for the second test. Dropping 10 players from the first test makes absolutely no sense from a team building point of view.
Players want to play and they want to win, I'm just not sure how you sell players on being part of a project that is pretty incoherent.
@nonpartizan devil's advocate being you're selecting a lot of young players and they all know they're going to get a taste (as well as giving them a wage boost and locking them in).
@Steven-Harris said in 2025 All Blacks v France series:
Money also trumps anything we see down here in NZ
It's true but one thing NZ has that no other country can match is heritage, tradition and pride in the jersey.
To me the respective approaches to this series speak to how New Zealand have something that the French will never be able to buy or throw money at.
The word I would use is integrity.
@Victor-Meldrew said in 2025 All Blacks v France series:
@canefan said in 2025 All Blacks v France series:
And it allows them to develop depth while devaluing test rugby. It doesn't help that we then can't pump them the way they deserve
But doesn't it speak volumes about the levels of NZ & French Rugby that we struggle to put away a French development team?
Thats the point I was trying to make, poorly in hindsight
@brodean said in 2025 All Blacks v France series:
Vaa'i did well for his try. He's probably deceptively fast but he definitely runs like a lock and not a loose forward.
Thought he did a pretty decent job of mimicking PSDT tonight.
@Bones said in 2025 All Blacks v France series:
@brodean said in 2025 All Blacks v France series:
Vaa'i did well for his try. He's probably deceptively fast but he definitely runs like a lock and not a loose forward.
Thought he did a pretty decent job of mimicking PSDT tonight.
That's high praise. He's coming along nicely. Need to see how he goes against a top 3 A team. He should get a chance soon against the Saffas.
Hoping it isn’t mass changes next week, as I’d like to see guys fill some roles…
When bigger tests roll around, I still think Tuipulotu would be best used as your impact man - Scott Barrett will rise to the challenge. Finau gets one last chance, and possibly edging to that territory for Kirifi so I’d start him to get a proper read.
