It's France-New Zealand time once more. These words should evoke a thrill in any rugby aficionado – and, for the most part, they do. While there are other more intense rivalries – such as the All Blacks versus South Africa or Australia, or England versus, well, anyone – for the sheer promise of everything sacred in rugby, the brutality and the artistry, nothing quite ignites the imagination like Saturday night's clash in Paris.
This encounter is all the more significant given it marks a quarter of a century since the greatest France-New Zealand match of all time – some say the greatest match, period. On Halloween 1999, these two giants met at Twickenham in the semi-final of the Rugby World Cup. What unfolded was a nightmare scenario only the French seem capable of inflicting on the All Blacks, who watched their 24-10 lead early in the second half transform into a scarcely believable 43-31 defeat.
Nowadays, such a comeback might seem ordinary, given the wild and thrilling nature of modern rugby, but back then, France's victory defied everything we thought we knew about the sport – a harbinger of things to come. There was an unbridled swagger about France's win, as if it were a perfectly natural course of events, rather than a subversion of all rational thought. Eight years later, in the quarter-final of the 2007 World Cup in Cardiff, the French were arguably even bigger underdogs, but they played with the confidence of favorites, gradually realizing the game was theirs to take.
On both occasions, the All Blacks were the ones who confidently entered the arena, clearly the best team in the world at the time, especially in 2007. On both occasions, they left the field shell-shocked, unable to comprehend how events had unfolded against them, a haunting from which the team often recognized as the best in history would emerge in the years after 2007. But 1999 stands out because the All Blacks were simply outplayed by a team inspired. The occasion oozed charisma, nowhere more so than in the contrasting shapes of the two wingers, Jonah Lomu and Christophe Dominici, both tragically no longer with us.
The matches between France and New Zealand that have become legendary often involve the French winning. This is because no one else can shift from the sublime to the ridiculous and back again quite like they do. Indeed, in 1999, France finished the last edition of the Five Nations with the wooden spoon, then lost 54-7 to those same All Blacks in June, in Wellington. France have almost always been the underdogs. This is evidenced by the humiliating thrashings they have suffered at the hands of New Zealand, which one might feel tend to go unnoticed, or the legend of the fixture might be less revered. In the 2015 World Cup, the All Blacks beat France 62-13 in the quarter-final, which must rank as one of the most humiliating defeats by any credible rugby nation ever. But the size of that New Zealand victory is far from a blip. It is not even the biggest (2007’s 61-10 win – in Wellington, again; in June, again; in the buildup to a World Cup, again).
A new twist to the excitement these days is that New Zealand are no longer routinely the favorites. The bookies can barely split the teams on Saturday. New Zealand's tour of the north so far reads two wins from two against teams in the world's top five. Here they play a third team in that elite, but the last time they played France in Paris, just over a year ago, the home side won comfortably, in the opening match of the World Cup. That event reached its zenith in two quarter-finals at the same stadium, which have already passed into legend, so exhilarating was the rugby played, even if France and New Zealand were kept apart. Now the stage is set for the latest instalment between these two, who, whatever the crazy fluctuations in form, are capable of their respective hemispheres’ most sublime rugby. Therein lies the magic.
There should be no shortage of tries in Edinburgh on Saturday afternoon. The litmus test for the newly constituted executive board of World Rugby will be how many of them are scored by Portugal. Os Lobos are the lowest ranked of the “tier two” nations the big boys have deigned to grant entry to this year’s autumn internationals, a privilege they have earned from their impressive World Cup campaign last year, beating Fiji and drawing with Georgia, while losing with honor to Wales and Australia. A productive outing for Murrayfield visitors would suggest rugby’s mission to spread its gospel is coming along.
As expected, after their strangely encouraging 32-15, four-tries-to-nil defeat to South Africa last week, Scotland have changed all but one of their team. They attribute this to a six-day turnaround, but really they see this as a chance to test a few youngsters and give others some needed game time. Tom Jordan is the only player to be retained from last weekend. He shone in the unfamiliar position of full-back, so this will be a chance for him to make it a little less so. Stafford McDowall will captain the side from the centre, and there are two new caps in the pack – Alex Samuel, the Glasgow lock, and Ben Muncaster, the bullocking Edinburgh flanker.
Portugal have not had such a great year since their World Cup heroics. They lost last weekend to USA in Coimbra, but they come loaded with plenty of professionals from French rugby, mainly in Pro D2, the second tier. The brightest star of their World Cup, Raffaele Storti, plays his rugby in the Top 14 with Stade Français and will be lining up on Portugal’s right wing. His duel with Darcy Graham, back from a head injury and a good bet to move into first place in Scotland’s try-scoring charts, and Arron Reed, the livewire from Sale, should set the tone for an entertaining match. Needless to say, Scotland can barely afford to lose it.
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