Henry sticks with winning combo
20 Oct 2011
All Blacks coach Graham Henry has named an unchanged starting line-up for Sunday’s World Cup final against France.
Unlike the 2007 tournament where the side was changed from game to game, Henry has coveted consistency and built some momentum with the existing combinations. Adam Thomson is the only change to the 22, and will replace Victor Vito on the bench.
The All Blacks boast an impressive win record under Henry, but they are yet to win a World Cup. Henry admitted that this would be a motivating factor.
‘I’ve been with a lot of these guys for a long time and although they may be ranked the leading team in the world, they’ve never been world champions,’ Henry said. ‘It would be just marvellous to have that title because they’ve had every other title that’s going in rugby apart from this one.
‘So for Richie [McCaw] and the boys I think that would be fabulous and you don’t deserve that title till you do the job. I think they’re good enough and that would be the icing on the cake.’
The All Blacks coach said the team would not underestimate France.
‘This French team, we’re not sure who’s going to turn up, quite frankly. So we’ve got to prepare that they’re going to be the best in the world. They’ve certainly got the individuals to do that, it’s just whether they can produce that as a side. All the word is that they’ve prepared well and they’re very focused and they’re enjoying the underdog tag.
‘They feel that they’re not being considered in this final by a lot of people. We don’t think that. We think they’re a very good rugby team.’
If the All Blacks win the final, they will retain their No 1 world ranking.
New Zealand – 15 Israel Dagg, 14 Cory Jane, 13 Conrad Smith, 12 Ma’a Nonu, 11 Richard Kahui, 10 Aaron Cruden, 9 Piri Weepu, 8 Kieran Read, 7 Richie McCaw (c), 6 Jerome Kaino, 5 Sam Whitelock, 4 Brad Thorn, 3 Owen Franks, 2 Keven Mealamu, 1 Tony Woodcock.
Subs: 16 Andrew Hore, 17 Ben Franks, 18 Ali Williams, 19 Adam Thomson, 20 Andy Ellis, 21 Stephen Donald, 22 Sonny Bill Williams.
165 Comments
Pages: « 1 2 [3] 4 » Show All
21 Oct 2011, 01:20 am
@JL1(JL1)-100: So case is settled then.
Enjoy the sofa, cowboy.
21 Oct 2011, 01:32 am
@JL1(JL1)-99: I actualy think Andre Watson would do an admiral job.
I don’t know why you feel a need to imply I am not heterosexual though. I did of course mention “unusual” behaviour in an attempt at humor. Perhaps you feel a need to put down others. Did you receive poor treatment at the hands of bullies at school? Or perhaps it is just a continuation of such behaviours. Of course, it could be something else entirely. But its a shame, and does nothing for you.
21 Oct 2011, 01:34 am
@hashi(hashi)-102: Thanks for the free counsel session
21 Oct 2011, 01:39 am
No wucckas.
And the other question? Who else would be a truely nutral referee? one that no one could reasonably object to?
21 Oct 2011, 01:40 am
Well, they may all be nutral. But forget that. what about neutral?
21 Oct 2011, 02:09 am
The French forwards are gonna hit us harder than a fully laden runaway train
We hit them harder then its goodbye France and game over
If we don’t she could be close
21 Oct 2011, 02:12 am
ALL OF SOUTH AFRICA IS BEHIND YOU FRANCE!
Allez les Bleus!
21 Oct 2011, 02:17 am
@wooden spoon(wooden spoon)-107Are you referring to France moving up to number 3 in the world ranking and South Africa 4
21 Oct 2011, 02:19 am
@spartan(spartan)-108:
No idea what he is on about, I am going for the Cheetahs and Lions on the weekend…
21 Oct 2011, 02:29 am
@spartan(spartan)-108: Of course!
Spite before Honour!
21 Oct 2011, 02:36 am
loving the hypocrisy of Saffa fans. in 07 the ref was wonderful and didn’t “cheat” NZ should have won the game regardless, fast forward to 2011 and all those cocksure fans are suddenly screaming conspiracy and cheating by officials
love it truly, as one who mentioned before the tourny that SA would one day cop the sane poor officiating, the reaction has been marvelous to watch.
karma has fairly bitten those who delighted for four years, so suck it up ladies and like your team, enjoy watching the final from the comforts of home.
how sweet it is.
21 Oct 2011, 02:40 am
@poppa69(poppa69)-111:
they are distraught Pops, once we take it the game is up for them as we own them in every other stat in the game
21 Oct 2011, 02:45 am
@NZINCHINA(NZINCHINA)-112: Nope. They will still have won more world cups than us…the first one didn’t count aye.
of course, now the call will be that either the RWC doesn’t count. Or of course that we cheated. thats more likely.
21 Oct 2011, 02:52 am
Wow, check this! All the hobbits came out to play…
But don’t worry, it is ‘Hug a Kiwi Day’ so I will be nice and take this opportunity to send you all a vitual hug…now there, can you all feel the warmth?
21 Oct 2011, 02:56 am
OK ok THAT IS ENOUGH, let go now knobbie…no really, LET GO!!!
21 Oct 2011, 02:57 am
Thanks.
needless to say I am sure all kiwis will have sent soothing sympathy hugs back to all the teams that just could not cut the mustard.
We may of course need to engage in much wailing and gnashing of teeth if we loose this weekend…but as some have said, it is alread bought and paid for, so perhaps we don’t need to worry.
21 Oct 2011, 03:04 am
As Keith Quinn said on the tv coverage leading into the 1987 final
“the only thing predictable about the French is , that they will be , unpredictable ”
those words still hold true today
21 Oct 2011, 03:04 am
Nah Hashi, no sympathy needed, it is after all just a game and most of us have moved on a while ago.
As for the weekend, you are right, it is in the bag. Snowball’s chance of you mucking it up, just enjoy the ride. It is an absolute great moment and feeling.
21 Oct 2011, 03:09 am
@spartan(spartan)-117:
Very true but this French team is really poor and being unpredictable AND poor is not a good mix…expect the biggest winning margin yet in a WC final.
21 Oct 2011, 03:12 am
In the bag?
Odd. It seems the only people who think so are not kiwis. Of course, you always get people who claim to know the future. They are idiots or liars.
And then you always get people who claim knowledge of conspiracy. Evidence is obviously not required, and entirely optional.
But if we do win it, it will indeed be a great moment and feeling…about the same as when SA won in 2007.
21 Oct 2011, 03:17 am
@Slartibartfast(Slartibartfast)-119: Been burned by the frogs too many times so I’ll see how the 1st 10 minutes unfold and take it from there
21 Oct 2011, 03:20 am
Righto then, am I an idiot or a liar?! Can I please have my virtual hug back?!
21 Oct 2011, 03:22 am
PS I expect the feeling to be more like ’95 than ’07…
21 Oct 2011, 03:25 am
@spartan(spartan)-121:
Hehehe I can tell you now that if you errr…drop the ball on this one, don’t expect any mercy from anyone…but it is just not going to happen.
Where exactly are the Froggies going to hurt you?
21 Oct 2011, 03:28 am
@Slartibartfast(Slartibartfast)-124: wouldn’t expect it any other way
21 Oct 2011, 03:31 am
Boycott this farce. How many more Bob Woolmers have to die before we wake up?!
21 Oct 2011, 03:33 am
depends….do you claim to know the future, or do you simply predict an AB’s win? Most people do that!
Spartans right. For us, we are generaly comfortable in games against the Boks. Win or lose, we anticipate a hard game, most of the time thats what we get. Its different with the frogs. They ARE our bogey team.
And no, I’m keeping the hug.
21 Oct 2011, 03:34 am
@Slartibartfast(Slartibartfast)-123: Nah. I would much rather have the AB’s face the Bokke in the final.
Less likely to win, but a sweeter victory if we had.
21 Oct 2011, 03:37 am
@Slartibartfast(Slartibartfast)-124: I’ve had a good honest think about
where are they they gonna hurt you ?
I could’nt come up with anything
21 Oct 2011, 03:39 am
@spartan(spartan)-129: me either. For all intents it should be a walk over. But we have thought that before and come a cropper.
Never Again.
21 Oct 2011, 03:42 am
@hashi(hashi)-130: My thoughts exactly
21 Oct 2011, 03:49 am
@JL1(JL1)-99: Actualy, further to this and my later post…
Thats not a bad idea at all. And it would likely get far greater reaching results than just getting one ref banned.
Its important for all countries to have confidence in the quality, neutrality and transparency of the referees in the international arena. POB obviously no longer (if ever) has enjoyed that confidence. I’m not talking about fans confidence, that is as fickle and a very fickle fickle thing that is being particularly fickle. I mean the confidence of the various Unions.
So I would suggest a far better campaign than vilefying bryce (for what was a very poor performance – but still not cheating) would be to encourange Mr Watson to apply for the job.
21 Oct 2011, 03:53 am
@hashi(hashi)-127:
Weighing up everything I made a prediction…being clled an idiot doing it seems harse…GIMME THE HUG BACK!!!
21 Oct 2011, 03:55 am
@spartan(spartan)-129:
I rest my case yer Honour!
21 Oct 2011, 03:58 am
OK OK….*….!*
I did say OR. A prediction is one thing, claiming absolutely is quite another.
I predict an ABs victory…but i would never say the AB’s WILL win. Should, yes. But not for sure.
I don’t think YOU are an idiot or a liar. You do tend to backup what you say with valid argument, and probably as two eyed as the few on here….kiwis included.
21 Oct 2011, 03:58 am
@hashi(hashi)-132:
End of the day there was way to much talking about the performances of refs in this tournament, it is not good for the game and the old farts should do something about it.
Forget about the bitterness of the supporters for a moment and you still left with a lot of obvious wrongs…it is costing the game.
21 Oct 2011, 04:01 am
@hashi(hashi)-135:
OK keep the hug…
21 Oct 2011, 04:02 am
@Slartibartfast(Slartibartfast)-136: Absolutley….hence 132
21 Oct 2011, 04:12 am
@hashi(hashi)-135:
But on a serious note, if you cliamed they WILL win I would have called you arrogant and a little full of yourself and your team….me on the other hand can say it!
21 Oct 2011, 04:15 am
@KiaKahaNZ(KiaKahaNZ)-17: Men of Steel who are fully aware of what lays in front of them.
For those of you who not considered this, that the AB’s have not played their best game yet. Every single game we have played thus far has had a purpose, but one needs to sit down and draw some comparisons from the last 12 months. Every team we have engaged over this period has been engaged specifically head on to their strengths…not ours.
The most recent and probably the easiest to fathom is the Argentina game in the quarters….we played their style for the workout we needed going forward for the forwards. I think it is reasonable to say that we could have probably played a more expansive game, dotted down a couple more tries and run them ragged- but we know we could do that.
GH and co have had the confidence in our team to experiment and challenge the players and play every step of the way in preparation for Sunday.
Sunday will be a game that will go down in history and I would say without a doubt that players and supporters of rival teams will see why we are where we are and will know how much of a chance they would have had, had made it to the finals and met us there.
Arrogant..no. Just the belief that the best is yet to come from this team.
21 Oct 2011, 04:19 am
LOL! Fair enough!
21 Oct 2011, 05:27 am
for some reason, loser keewee’s think that their missed forward pass in ’07, somehow clears Bryce’s name in 2011. If anything, we should be protesting corruption together.
I mean, Bryce coincidentally “interpreted” the rules in such a way that nullified Boks game plan – the odds of that happening by chance are astronomical
21 Oct 2011, 05:49 am
@j59(j59)-142:
the Bokke have lost more than 10 times in the last couple of years, were the refs also to blame for all those losses, Bokke rugby is not the force you think it is, a ranking of 4th is justified in fact you’re lucky to be that high after the Moans were close to rolling you and you pipped the Welsh by one point
21 Oct 2011, 06:14 am
NZinChina
remember the claims of incredible depth in SA rugby??
21 Oct 2011, 06:18 am
j59
obviously you don’t watch a lot of rugby. kiwis felt hard done by because the French conceded 2 penalties the entire match, with not one at all in the second half, despite stats indicating they had as much ball as Aussie when they played SA.
so no, it’s not all about the forward pass, as for losers, did you welcome the Bokke back at OR Tambo two weeks ago?
21 Oct 2011, 06:44 am
What is it now? Day 13 and the whinging still as strong as ever.
HG leading the way.
21 Oct 2011, 07:21 am
@NZINCHINA(NZINCHINA)-143: regarding the losses – well, Wellington 2010 was pretty bad with the multiple warnings, but for instance, 3N this year – I didn’t have a problem with the ref in any SB losses, so not sure what you’re saying here. Owens was a bit odd in the Wales game (but only for say 10 mins), so can’t complain. Bryce was absolutely criminal
@poppa69(poppa69)-145: Thats my point – you think 07 injustice somehow absolves Bryce…come on man, they separate incidents – at best, we should complain in tandem, but for now, lets focus on the recent past
Guys: its injustice. You saw the diffence in NZ vs Aus – pockock tried his tricks but, hey, an honest ref pulled him up.
And I think BL is corrupt because its too much of a coincidence that his incompetence resulted in neatly nullifying the SB game plan. No way man
21 Oct 2011, 07:26 am
and I shouldn’t have called you losers, so sorry for that – but get frustrated when you in denial for what happened. Corruption affects all of us – even if you team wins by it, whatever
21 Oct 2011, 07:36 am
So the NZRU promised the members of the choirs singing the national anthems seating for the games they performed at.Did a about turn and just asked them to leave the stadiums after they performed.
Classy…
21 Oct 2011, 07:53 am
@wooden spoon(wooden spoon)-107: Fark jou – how can you support the north
Pages: « 1 2 [3] 4 » Show All
Have your say
You must be logged in to post a comment.