Biarritz and France prop Fabien Barcella has
been hailed as "the prototype of today's pros" by Didier
Retiere, scrum coach for 'Les Bleus'.
Barcella, 26, enjoyed an outstanding match in
France's 20-13 victory over South Africa and has now been
recalled for Saturday's All Blacks clash after being rested
for the Samoa victory.
Retiere said his combination of scrummaging,
handling and running skills were exactly what France
required as they seek to build towards the 2011 World Cup in
New Zealand.
"He is able to perform not only in the scrum
but is also extremely mobile and very prominent in the flow
of the game. His modus operandi is exactly the type of game
we want to put in place," added the coach.
But Barcella, who has only been professional
for three years, refused to carried away either by his
coach's praise or France's current impressive form.
"Only a short time ago we conceded 40 points
at Twickenham. We know where we are coming from," he
cautioned. "In France we have a tendency to go over the top
when we beat southern hemisphere sides. However, the
coaching staff have kept our feet on the ground. There are
still things to improve on, we still have to raise our level
of play to beat them," he added.
Indeed, France have lost their last three
home internationals against the All Blacks, although they
have an overall 8/1 win record at Marseille's Velodrome -
venue for Saturday's match - including a 42-33 victory over
New Zealand in 2000 in the only previous meeting there
between the two sides.
But New Zealand still hold a 35-12 advantage
in terms of matches against the French, with a solitary draw
in their 48 meetings - when it finished 20-20 at the Stade
de France in 2000. They also won last time out in Marseille,
when they hammered Italy 76-14 in the 2007 World Cup.
France's 27-22 summer win in Dunedin was
followed by a narrow 14-10 defeat in the second Test at
Westpac Stadium, but Marc Lièvremont's team are full of
confidence after their recent wins against South Africa and
Samoa.
New Zealand remain the only unbeaten southern
hemisphere team during November's international series, with
Australia slipping to a shock 9-8 defeat against Scotland at
the weekend and South Africa having already stumbled against
France (as well as Leicester Tigers and Saracens).
All Blacks assistant coach Steve Hansen
believes New Zealand are in better shape now than during the
summer, although his claim that injuries were primarily to
blame conveniently ignores the plethora of absentees from
the French touring squad.
"We were probably eight or nine leaders out
at the time of that game [Dunedin] and I think it was a bit
of a shock to some of the guys coming out of Super 14 in to
Test rugby. Those guys have gone away and learnt and are
more experienced because of that occasion. I think it will
be a different kettle of fish here," said Hansen.
But he acknowledged that France have been
impressive of late and acknowledged the threat they pose.
"They're playing well, they beat South Africa a couple of
weeks ago, now it's our time to front up," he said. "It's
the last Test of what has been a long, long year and to do
something the other southern hemisphere teams haven't done,
and that's go through a tour unbeaten, and show we can
handle the long season."
The match also marks the playing return (in
France) of Kiwi fly-half Dan Carter after his abortive
season with Perpignan last year. Carter, who became the All
Blacks' highest scorer on Saturday, said he believed France
presented their biggest challenge of the tour. "They are
hitting some pretty good form so it could make or break our
season," he added.
Meanwhile, Stade Toulousain's former All
Black scrum-half Byron Kelleher believes that New Zealand
could shade Saturday's encounter. "I think the absence of
Louis Picamoles could be detrimental to the French because
he is a player who can big differences on his own," Kelleher
told L'Equipe.
He also singled out captain Thierry Dusautoir
and prop Barcella as major players within the French side,
but said he felt All Blacks would triumph. "It's my team,
New Zealand is my country and of course I hope they win," he
said.
