Aided by an extraordinarily erratic Wayne Erickson, New Zealand extracted a measure of revenge by grinding out a comfortable 13-point victory over France at the Stade de France in Paris on Saturday night, winning 39-26.
To be fair though, Erickson handicapped New Zealand as much as he aided them with a display of whistle blowing that at times left the players open-mouthed in their dismay.
But he waited until the final minute to play his trump card in the flabbergast stakes. With France on the drive, Erickson perhaps saw a chance to curry favour with the Parisians after a less than sympathetic approach towards the locals.
With two All Blacks sprawled beneath him and the ball clutched to his chest as he stared at the lights, French skipper Fabien Pelous was awarded France's second try.
In a way, that decision cancelled an earlier howler when he gave Christian Cullen a try after collecting a pass from Jonah Lomu that was palpably forward.
As a wag remarked, the game could have been dubbed "Nightmare on Erickson Street". Even without his peculiar interpretation though, this game never came close to being a humdinger.
The last time these two met at last year's World Cup, France stung the Championship favourites with a magnificent display of Gallic flair. There was very little of it on display at a chilly Paris tonight.
Instead, the boot ruled the first half, with Christophe Lamaison and Andrew Mehrtens exchanging nine penalties. Lamaison kicked the homeside to a 9-3 lead before committing a string of offences that gave Mehrtens the opportunity to reach 700 Test points.
Mehrtens, who was born in Durban in South Africa before his parents went back home to New Zealand, reached the milestone faster than any other player, eclipsing the record of Michael Lynagh. The Australian achieved the feat in 54 Tests, while the All Black managed it in 46 internationals.
He scored 15 of those points -- from an eventual match tally of 29 points -- before the break to give the visitors a 15-12 lead.
The second half was a far more purposeful affair, but although the French made all the running, it was the Kiwis who surged to a 36-12 lead.
In the ninth minute of the second half, France were driving the ball up the midddle and where within 10 metres of the All Black line when they were blown, for the umpteenth, for going over the top.
Scrumhalf Justin Marshall took a quick tap and handed to Christian Cullen, who broke with his customary pace. Tana Umaga, playing at outside centre, received the pass and unleashed Doug Howlett who sped over for the first try.
France continued to bang away at the All Black defence but, with Erickson blowing merrily away, failed to find any way through a magnificently stout Kiwi defence.
Against this almost constant pressure, New Zealand managed to break out of their own half. Cullen chipped ahead and Lomu collected. The big fella was hauled to the ground but not before he popped the ball forward for Cullen to finish off his own manoeuvre.
Down 39-12, and with just two minutes of regulation time remaining, replacement wing Philippe Bernat-Salles rounded the Kiwi defence before Erickson's great act of charity ended proceedings.
Man of the match: Xavier Garbajosa. Although on the losing side, the French fullback bounced back from last week's poor display and was unfailingly impressive. His constant darts, on top of his solid defence and quick reading of the game, marked him as a constant threat for the Kiwis.
Villain of the Match: Wayne Erickson. Adjectives fail me. It is not a game that the Australian will recall as one of his finer achievements.
Moment of the Match: Howlett's try after nine minutes in the second half came when France was on the attack. They conceded a penalty on New Zealand's 22 and Marshall took it quickly. He sent it wide to Cullen and eventually to Howlett who scored under the posts. That put the All Blacks up 25-12 and really put the game beyond the Frenchmen.
The Teams:
New Zealand: 1 Greg Somerville, 2 Anton Oliver, 3 Greg Feek, 4 Todd Blackadder (c), 5 Norm Maxwell, 6 Ron Cribb, 7 Reuben Thorne, 8 Scott Robertson, 9 Justin Marshall, 10 Andrew Mehrtens, 11 Doug Howlett, 12 Daryl Gibson, 13 Tana Umaga, 14 Jonah Lomu, 15 Christian Cullen
Reserves: Troy Flavell, Gordon Slater, Carlos Spencer
Unused: Bruce Reihana, Mark Hammett, Byron Kelleher, Taine Randell
France: 1 Christian Califano, 2 Fabrice Landreau, 3 Sylvain Marconnet, 4 David Auradou, 5 Fabien Pelous (c), 6 Olivier Magne, 7 Christophe Moni, 8 Christophe Juillet, 9 Fabien Galthie, 10 Christophe Lamaison, 11 Thomas Lombard, 12 Richard Dourthe, 13 Franck Comba, 14 David Bory, 15 Xavier Garbajosa
Reserves: Philippe Bernat-Salles, Serge Betsen Tchoua, Olivier Brouzet, Philippe Carbonneau, Pieter De Villiers
Unused: Olivier Azam, Yann Delaigue
Attendance: 80000
Referee: Erickson w.
Points Scorers:
New Zealand
Tries: Howlett D.C. 1, Cullen C.M. 1
Conv: Mehrtens A.P. 1, Umaga T.J.F. 1
Pen K.: Mehrtens A.P. 9
France
Tries: Bernat-Salles P. 1, Pelous F. 1
Conv: Lamaison C. 2
Pen K.: Lamaison C. 4
No comments:
Post a Comment