Confident French rattled

Press, 16 November 1981, Page 36

Confident French rattled

The All Blacks rattled the confident Frenchmen right from the start of the game which was played in excellent conditions before a crowd of about 24,000. Alan Hewson slotted a fine 45-metres kick when the French were penalised at the first line-out to give the All Blacks the ideal start.

The French reply was a couple of early illustrations' of their barrage of up-and-unders, accompanied by forward drives off the back of the line-out with. Joinel to the fore.

But there was plenty of cause for optimism early on for the All Blacks in the way

in which their scrum showed no inclination to be shoved around by the highly rated French eight.

And it was they who came closest to crossing the opposition line first when, in the eighteenth minute they let the first of three golden opportunities slip through their fingers.

The French wing, Michel Fabre, was hustled off the ball by the All Black forwards and the hooker, Andy Dalton, took it virtually to the line. Then with Mexted available on his right, he took the more difficult option of trying to pass to his

captain, Graham Mourie, and the ball was blocked.

The All Blacks made life easier for themselves by lifting their tackling throughout the game, but a failure to find touch on several occasions by both Hewson and the first five-eighths, Brian McKechnie, who otherwise played extremely well, always threatened danger. And. in the twenty-eighth minute, another bad feature of the tourists’ play—the occasional outburst of indiscipline—cost them three points when the flanker, Mark Shaw, was penalised for dangerous play as he lifted his knees while charging at the French half-back, Pierre Berbizier.