ALL BLACKS JUST MAGIC
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IF THERE was a mutiny inside the France camp this week the impact on events here at the Millennium Stadium was negligible. To the irrepressible, irresistible All Blacks the French offered little resistance, succumbing rather meekly in the end to a masterclass in international rugby.
When New Zealand play like this nobody can live with them. Not Australia, not South Africa. Certainly not the French.
It is rugby from a different world. Rugby on a different level. Rugby played with more speed, flair and ferocity than any other side can manage.
No wonder the defending world champions are now reflecting on another World Cup win. As well as power and pace in their pack they have finishers like Nehe Milner-Skudder and Julian Savea, who in scoring one try bore more than a passing resemblance to Jonah Lomu at his unstoppable best. He scored a hat-trick of tries here to make himself the leader for the tournament.
Add to that what felt like the return of Dan Carter last night — one pass to Savea was just outrageous — and Steve Hansen’s side seem to be coming into form right on cue.
Of course, we have said this about New Zealand in the past only to then see them come unstuck. And one thing France did manage occasionally was to expose a degree of defensive indiscipline that the Springboks could yet exploit at Twickenham next weekend.
But my word this lot are good, wasting no time in making it clear to France that there would be no repeat of that quarter-final in this stadium eight years ago, never mind the tense, tight World Cup final in 2011.
This, it has to be said, is far from a vintage France side, and one imagines the departure of Philippe Saint-Andre as national coach will not be a comfortable one given their performances both in this encounter and last week against the Irish.
On this occasion, though, they did come up against a New Zealand side very much in the zone, the quality of their handling from one to 15 and beyond central to this victory. The fact that Owen Franks provided the final pass of a quite brilliant move for Jerome Kaino’s second-half score said it all.
Eight years ago the French players faced down the Haka. This time they were more respectful, keeping their distance, but it did them little good.
The All Blacks made an explosive start, breaking the gain-line at will. First Ma’a Nonu breached the
French defence, then Dan Carter; the combination of power and invention just a joy to watch.
In the end a Carter penalty, scored in the seventh minute, was New Zealand’s sole reward for the early pressure. But already the signs were ominous for the French. They had hardly touched the ball.
That said, the powerful boot of Scott Spedding — with a kick from inside France’s half — got them level.
But that kick from Michalak, doubly disastrous given the French fly-half appeared to pull his hamstring at the moment of execution, quickly enabled Hansen’s side to regain the advantage. Once Brodie Retallick had charged it down nobody was stopping the ludicrously quick New Zealand lock, with Carter then adding the extra points.
Morgan Parra reduced the deficit with the boot to keep the French in touch, but an opening 15 minutes that had already seen them lose their mercurial No 10 had been chastening to say the least for Philippe Saint-Andre’s men. Only New Zealand’s indiscipline was keeping them in the game, Parra actually missing an opportunity to close the gap to a single point.
That, however, acted as little more than a reminder to New Zealand to turn on the style again.
This was mesmerising stuff, a charged-down drop-goal attempt from Carter something they simply responded to by running in one of the tries of the tournament so far.
It was breathtaking, the precision of the passing, the fluidity of the movement, no matter who was arriving to take the ball on; forward or back. In the end it fell to Nehe Milner-Skudder to apply the finishing touches, skipping past Brice Dulin before accelerating away to score.
Carter again added two more points but what he did next had the Millennium Stadium crowd gasping in admiration as the big screen ran the replay. The off-loaded pass to send Julian Savea clear for New Zealand’s third try was just sublime; more than a reminder of his enduring quality and a fine response to the criticism he has endured.
This was such an open game. Not until the 32nd minute did we witness the first scrum. But credit to the French for at least attempting to make a contest of it, Louis Picamoles powering over to score and briefly reduce the deficit only for the irrepressible Savea to smash his way past three French defenders to regain control for the All Blacks. As Andrew Mehrtens said on the BBC, the ‘big bus’ had left ‘roadkill’ in his wake.
France might have fought back from a 14 point deficit to win that semi-final in 1999 but 16 points here at the interval looked too much.
There were flashes of encouragement, not least in the form of the strong running of Wesley Fofana.
But when Picamoles was sent to the sin-bin for punching Richie McCaw on the ground, New Zealand were ruthless in taking advantage. A try from Kaino essentially put the semi-finals beyond France’s reach.
France were done, Savea crossing for his third before Kieran Read bounded over for New Zealand’s seventh try of the evening.
Replacement scrum-half Tawera Kerr-Barlow grabbed the eighth score — then quickly nipped in for the ninth too.
At the death Nonu raced clear, only to lose the ball attempting to ground for the try.
New Zealand and boss Hansen will care little however, the defending champions flexing their title credentials all over again by coming alive at the tournament.