Will Robertson shift Ardie Savea back to openside? Photo: Nic Bothma/ActionPress
All Blacks v France
Kick-off: 9:10am Sunday 17 November
Stade de France, Paris
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Analysis - It's fair to say things are feeling pretty good for the All Blacks right now. Three wins from three on the northern tour so far, with one of the two remaining tests a gimmee against Italy. For now though attention turns to France in Paris, at a venue that will still haunt a lot of the squad after what happened there last year.
Momentum
Robertson's side come in off the back of two impressive wins, however one of the more notable aspects of the victories over England and Ireland was the adaptability shown. The All Blacks found themselves behind in both tests and worked things out on the fly to pull off the wins, on the back of excellent individual contributions.
Strength of schedule
In saying that, there's no escaping the fact that it was the brief world number one Ireland's worst performance in a while. Andy Farrell's side was awful on attack, better on defence but never got out of second gear in front of a baffled Aviva Stadium. By contrast England were very good for most of the game, but completely fell to bits when it really mattered - not for the first time this year against the All Blacks and then did it again last weekend for good measure.
All Black Jordie Barrett tackles Ireland’s Garry Ringrose high, resulting in a yellow card, Dublin 2024. Photo: PHOTOSPORT
Selections
Here's the big one for Robertson. Sam Cane is out, so does he do what plenty of people have been crying out for all season and shift Ardie Savea back to openside? That'll mean Wallace Sititi in turn moves to number eight, with presumably Samipeni Finau starting at blindside. However don't rule out a call up for rookie Peter Lakai, or one of Robertson's proven Crusaders Christian Lio-Willie.
At halfback though it'll just be a pure preference factor. While Cortez Ratima had a few nice touches in Dublin, the rest of his night was frustrating as he was harassed at the base of the ruck. If that one performance necessitates a switch with Cam Roigard, it'll show just how marginal things are with Robertson's thinking around his nines.
Cortez Ratima, Cam Roigard. Photo: PHOTOSPORT
Dupont
Of course, whoever starts between those two is in for probably the biggest challenge of their career. Antoine Dupont is regarded as the best player in the world right now and with good reason, not only is he coming off winning an Olympic gold medal, his Tolouse team also won the Top 14 and Champions Cup this year. The 27-year-old is addicted to winning, is the face of the sport in Europe and will be the main reason why a lot of the 80,000 people will be coming to watch this test at Stade de France.
Antoine Dupont of France runs with the ball during the Six Nations Rugby match between France and Wales at Stade de France,+++ March 2023. Photo: Eurasia Sport Images / Getty Images
Conquest of Paris
Up until last year, the All Blacks unbelievably hadn't lost in Paris since 1973. The opening match of the World Cup changed that with 27-13 loss to France, and while they won their quarter and semi at Stade de France, the final was lost too by a solitary point. So, the motivation is there to once again black out the City of Lights.
The ref
Nic Berry came in for some serious scrutiny last weekend in Dublin, although it should be noted that it was due to the game's often stagnant pace rather than any particular game changing interpretations against the All Blacks. Irish fans probably have a different view but that's history now, as we look forward with intrigue to another performance from Nika Amashukeli. The Georgian has controlled a couple of dramatic All Black tests: the famous loss to the Pumas in Christchurch two years ago, also the one-point win over England in the first game of the season.
