Clash of the 2002 rugby titans
The French go into the clash with the scalp of South Africa under their belt while the All Blacks will be similarly confident despite the narrow 31-28 defeat by England last weekend.
For the All Blacks though it gives them a chance to further wipe away memories of the bitter semi-final loss in the 1999 World Cup where, like in 1995, they had looked to be the winners of the competition until one match dictated otherwise.
"In 1995 we met an inspired South Africa in the final and 1999 saw us play a French side that, that day, was unbeatable," said Andrew Mehrtens, who along with Jonah Lomu, are the sole survivors in this squad from both those crushing defeats.
Lomu and Mehrtens acknowledge that playing France is 80 minutes of nervous warfare as the unpredictability they bring to the game never allows their opposition to relax. Lomu admitted that despite his two tries in the English match his place was still very much on trial and the last opposition he wished to meet as he attempts to frank the good performance in his
previous match were the French. Lomu will come up against the physically unimpressive but
lightening quick French winger
Vincent Clerc, who made a tryscoring debut against the Springboks not bad for a
player who was performing in the Second Division just last season. Where the All Blacks will find it toughest will be in the scrum as their inexperienced pack comes up against possibly the best pack overall in Europe and who gave the highly-rated Springbok eight a torrid time last Saturday.
New Zealand coach John Mitchell still protests the pack is the best he could assemble but with seven of the starting eight resting up at home, their replacements performance against England will have given English coach Clive Woodward much to ponder. Mehrtens has called for the All Blacks to replicate the intensity of their win over the French on Armistice Day two years ago at the same venue it will take that and a bit more to see off the European champions in what can truthfully be defined as the Clash of the 2002 Rugby Titans.
FRANCE: N Brusque (Biarritz); V Clerc (Toulouse), T Castaignede (Saracens),
D Traille (Pau), C Heymans (Toulouse);
F Gelez (Agen), F Galthie (Stade Francais, capt); I Harinordoquy (Pau), O Magne (Montferrand), S Betsen (Biarritz);
O Brouzet (Montferrand), F Pelous (Toulouse); P De Villiers (Stade Francais), R Ibanez (Castres), Jean-J Crenca (Agen). Replacements: JB Rue (Agen), S Marconnet (Stade Francais), T Privat (Beziers),
S Chabal (Bourgoin), D Yachvili (Biarritz), G Merceron (Montferrand), X Garbajosa (Toulouse).
NEW ZEALAND: C Cullen (Wellington);
D Howlett (Auckland), T Umaga (Wellington), M Robinson (Canterbury), J Lomu (Wellington); A Mehrtens (Canterbury),
D Lee (Otago); S Broomhall (Canterbury), M Holah (Waikato), T Randell (Otago, capt); B Mika (Auckland), A Williams (Auckland); K Meeuws (Auckland), A Hore (Taranaki), J McDonnell (Otago).
Replacements: K Mealamu (Auckland),
C Hayman (Otago), K Robinson (Waikato), R So'oialo (Wellington), S Devine (Auckland), P Steinmetz (Wellington), B Blair (Canterbury)
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