First rugby test may develop into dour battle for possession

Press, 14 November 1981, Page 64

First rugby test may develop into dour battle for possession

NZPA staff correspondent Toulouse The All Blacks will be looking to their forward pack to gain enough possession to pave the way for victory when they play the first test against France at Toulouse early tomorrow morning. (N.Z. time).

With the New Zealand backline revealing little rhythm and not too much penetration throughout the tour of Rumania and France, the All Black tactic seems likely to be simply to dominate the test territorially and put the French, under pressure near their own line. The dummy run for that tactical approach was made at Bayonne last Saturday when the All Blacks had the most convincing display of their tour — a 28-18 win over the French Barbarians. The French test team is certain to be a far tougher proposition than the freerunning Barbarians, but the All Black captain, Graham Mourie, believes the Bayonne game had useful tactical pointers. “We will try to gain a territorial advantage and pressure the French from there. The success of that approach will depend on the amount of ball we can win and we may have to change it if things are not working out. But one thing is certain, there’s no way we will score points from our own half.” With both the All Blacks and France showing little faith in the ability of their backlines to score tries from anything except the best possession, the prospect is that the game may develop into a rather dour battle for possession. In such circumstances, the All Blacks will be hoping to come out ahead in the lineouts and rucks, while the

French will be confident of their ability at scrummaging and mauling. The French won the Grand Slam in last season’s Five Nations championships without noted line-out jumpers but with a pack that could demoralise the opposition through the strength of the likes of the prop, Robert Paparemborde, and the lock Daniel Revallier. Paparemborde, the captain tomorrow in the absence of Jean Pierre Rives, is a very experienced international and considered one of the best props in the world. He and his fellow prop, Michel Cremaschi, will be seeking to gain an important advantage over Rod Ketels and John Spiers in an area where the All Blacks have looked rather suspect. In the mauls France will have the 33-year-old Revallier — formerly one of France’s top hammer throwers and known as Samson to his teammates because of his reputed feat of lifting a car by himself. Revallier, who has arrived late on the international scene, packs 111 kilograms into his 1.87 metre frame. France's other lock, Alain Lorieux, played for the French Barbarians where Andy Haden seemed to have his measure and they will be looking to the back of the line-out for the bulk of their possession. The success of the winning French selection at Grenoble in gaining line-out ball at the

back persuaded the French selectors to pick three tall loose forwards in Laurent Rodriguez, Jean Luc Joinel, and the No. 8. DominiqueErbani. His inclusion means that there is no room for the flanker. Pierre Lacans, whose speed to the loose ball was a big factor in France’s Grand Slam victory. If the All Blacks win enough ball and move it quickly, the French may rue that decision. The All Blacks are well aware of the danger presented by the French loose trio driving off the back of the line-out and yesterday they practised nullifying it with Andy Haden at No. 6, Mourie at No. 7 and Mexted at the tail in the New Zealand captain’s normal position. Mourie thinks the All Blacks will be able to combat the French at the back of the line-out but is less sure about the prospects if the French then switch to short line-outs. “That could be a real problem because you do not know where the ball is being thrown to,” said Mourie. The French had a big success with that ploy in their Bastille Day win over New Zealand, at Auckland in 1979. The French coach, Jacques Fouroux, who captained France against the All Blacks in 1977 from halfback, has made forward domination the keynote of his team and selected backs who

are solid and capable rather than possessing the traditional French flair. The All Blacks play the backline that served them at Bayonne last Saturday with Jamie Salmon and Arthur Stone again playing a twocentre game. With Stone making his test debut and Salmon having just one cap against Rumania, a heavy burden will fall on the pair in defence but their chances of attack are likely to be limited. The All Blacks have the advantage of playing the French very early in their season but despite this are likely to go into the game as underdogs. The game, which starts at 3 a.m. tomorrow (N.Z.) time will be refereed by the Welshman, Clive Norling, most recently in New Zealand for the Springbok series. The teams are — FRANCE: Serge Gabernet: Michel Fabre. Roland Bertranne. Patrick Mesny, Serge Blanco. Guy Laporte; Pierre Berbizier: Dominique Erbani; Jean Luc Joinel, Daniel Revallier. Alain Larieux, Laurent Rodriguez; Robert Paparenborde. Philippe Dintrans. Michel Cremaschi. NEW ZEALAND. Allan Hewson; Stu Wilson. Arthur Stone. Jamie Salmon, Bernie Fraser. Brian McKechnie; Dave Loveridge; Murray Mexted; Graham Mourie (captain). Andy Haden, Gary Wheiton. Mark Shaw; Rod Ketels, Andy Dalton. John Spiers.