All Blacks warned to remember 2000 ambush

Reuters

WINNER ARE GRINNERS: A French player celebrates the 42-33 victory over the All Blacks in Marseille back in 2000.

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If Wayne Smith does only one thing this week, he knows what it needs to be. He must make his All Blacks aware of what is about to confront them on a night that will be as much about passion as it will precision.

Smith, now the All Blacks assistant coach, knows this because he was in charge the last time they came to this southern port, and France's second largest city, for a match against les Bleus. And it didn't turn out well for the New Zealanders that evening, smashed 42-33 as the home team fed off a stirring occasion at the wonderful Stade Velodrome.

There is a similar feel about town. The All Blacks are travelling well, as they were back in 2000, having won relatively comfortably the week earlier in Paris; but there's a real vibe that the French have something special brewing, and that the people of the southern regions (Marseille is a round-ball city, but the rugby strongholds of Toulon, Toulouse, Montpellier and Perpignan are not far away) could inspire a seismic sort of performance from their men.

It's been billed the "Battle of the Hemispheres" and the proud Frenchmen from this area will be up for it. They'll buy in to an occasion that the All Blacks are calling the "defining" moment of their year.

So Smith is taking it upon himself to be tour guide this week. The man they dub "the professor" for his love of the tactical side of the game, is ready to deliver a lecture to his young students. Smith says it's on him to ready his men for what they're about to face, and he knows how important his words could be.

And then he gave us an insight to some of the material he'll draw on from 2000.

"It's just a passionate experience," he said. "The crowd had an influence on our guys, and we under-prepared for that. We'd beaten France the week before on Armistice Day but we weren't in the hunt here. As a coach I felt really vulnerable that day. We could have sent another three men out, had 18 on the field and we still would have struggled."

Smith was asked if he had an inkling of what was in store beforehand.

"I started to feel it from Thursday," he said. "We went to a mayoral reception, and the French team disappeared into the Mayor's office, and you could hear him screaming at them. I said to the boys 'geez, this is interesting'. We were just standing round talking, and they were in there getting a grilling. It was pretty apparent by then we were going to be up against something special."

Then came the captain's run. The All Blacks arrived to find the stadium locked up (Marseille Olympique, the city's football team, had a match that night) and Smith recalls then manager Andrew 'the Colonel' Martin being less than impressed.

"The Colonel had the caretaker up against the wall by the throat, telling him he was going to rip his effing head off if he didn't let us in. You just knew it was going to be tough."

Smith figured Saturday night (8.45am Sunday, NZ time) would be even "more hostile" than anything the All Blacks had faced in bigger stadiums on this trip at Millennium, San Siro and Twickenham.

He said he would address the team on that subject, and they might bring someone else in – Tana Umaga played in 2000, and he's just round the road now with Toulon – but hadn't decided yet.

"I'll put a lot of effort into it," said Smith. "It's important we make these guys aware of it. It's not as easy as it sounds either. Sometimes you've just got to experience it. But if you're forewarned you can at least prepare yourself for it."

The All Blacks are not hiding, either, from the stakes of their last test of the year. It's a defining contest, said Smith.

"It hasn't been a vintage year really in terms of results. We've made some progress on the tour in terms of competition for spots… but not winning the Tri-Nations hurt us and we want to move on from that. This will be the best way to do that.
"It's a big game, the guys sense that, and we've got to show we can front for this occasion."

- © Fairfax NZ News