New French Side Hoping For Better Things

Press, Volume CVIII, Issue 31724, 6 July 1968, Page 15

New French Side Hoping For Better Things

(From N.Z.P.A. staff correspondent, PAUL CAVANAGH) DUNEDIN. Can the French Rugby team show sufficient improvement in its forward play to hold and beat Otago? The answer will be known shortly after 4 p.m. today when the 30 players leave the Carisbrook ground.

France will have almost a new team from that beaten by Marlborough in the opening game of the tour. Only the lock, A. Plantefol, and the prop, J. Iracabal, remain.

and Southland are unlikely to allow the Frenchmen any latitude in the forward exchanges, and they will' provide particularly tough opposition at a time when the Frenchmen are wanting to mould themselves into a test- , winning pack. ! France will have a height advantage in the line-outs, I and with the experienced M. . Puget replacing the young- . ster J. L. Berot at half-back, . the Otago loose forwards are unlikely to have as easy a job as the Marlborough trio did in preventing the French back-line from getting under way from set play. The Otago No. 8 and captain, H. Morrison, is making a come-back this season after missing last year because of injury and after playing for the South Island in 1965. The other two loose forwards are W. W. Townsend, an impressive South Island representative last year, and the New Zealand Universities representative, S. H. O. Reaney. Two All Blacks The prop, A. J. Kreft, and the first five-eighths, E. W. Kirton, were in Australia with the All Blacks last month, while the full-back, E. S. Taylor, and the wing, D. R. Edward, have played for New Zealand Universities. The other wing, E. D. Duckworth, played in the under-23 trials last season. International teams have always found Otago hard to beat—the 1966 Lions lost, 9-17, at Carisbrook, giving Otago its third successive win against Lions’ teams since 1950. The English team which made a short tour in 1963 also suffered from Otago’s hands, but the 1961 French team won, 15-6. Need Firm Ground If the Frenchmen find their sought-after tightness in the forward play, and if the Carisbrook ground is firm enough to allow the French backs to throw the ball around in their unorthodox style, they could get their much-needed win.

This will give France the opportunity to push aside its defeat on Wednesday and concentrate on winning today’s game.

acting manager of the side, Mr Garigue, described as the "fantasy” play of the backs. Mr Garrigue has also said that today’s game and Tuesday’s match against Southland are being treated as preparation for the main mission of the tour—victory in the tests. But sides such as Otago

It will require a tighter brand of football in the forwards and none of what the

But Otago can be relied upon to fight every inch of the way, and if the Frenchmen again slip into the careless play of last Wednesday, they could easily find themselves two down after two matches.

Carisbrook was covered in sheets of water after heavy rain on Wednesday night, but this had disappeared yesterday, and the ground was drying out well in fine weather. But it is still likely to be heavy.