Analysis - The All Blacks take on France in the second test in Wellington and it could be a fiery affair in the capital.
There's some bad blood stemming from the Eden Park clash at the weekend, in which an incident led to France wing Remy Grosso suffering a fractured face, vengeance could inspire or undo the passionate French.
France's Remy Grosso is tackled by All Blacks Ofa Tu'ungafasi and Sam Cane. Photo: Photosport
The double tackle from All Blacks Sam Cane and Ofa Tuungafasi that left Remy Grosso with two facial fractures has dominated headlines this week and was raised again as Grosso fired another shot New Zealand's way through the French media.
The winger re-ignited the debate on Friday when he said he was struggling to understand how the All Blacks pair escaped any real punishment and claimed the punishment would have come if the tacklers were French.
Stand-in All Blacks captain Sam Whitelock though diplomatically fended off any danger of being dragged back into the tackle controversy at the captain's run. When asked about the comments at Westpac Stadium, Whitelock said they were doing the best to focus on their own performance, rather than what was motivating the French.
However the French have made plenty of noise over the incident, with French pundits labelling the All Blacks dirty.
The All Blacks coach Steve Hansen bristled at the suggestion.
"Someone gave me a good analogy and that is, sometimes when you're driving in your car and you're driving at the right speed limit and then a little kid runs out in front of you, is it your fault? Or the kid's? In our game things are fluid and can change and you can't stop something you're committed to and someone's angle changes."
Steve Hansen. Photo: PHOTOSPORT
Cries that at least one of the players should have been cited have come from as high as World Rugby vice-president Augustin Pichot.
Hansen was equally incensed by the scribes that called the All Blacks cheats.
"We've been called cheats for 100 years haven't we? If you keep winning I suppose people have got to find reasons; like Richie McCaw (former All Black captain) was the biggest cheat ever, yet he didn't cheat, he played to the letter of the law. When Auckland were beating Canterbury they were the biggest cheats and then when Canterbury started winning they were the biggest cheats," Hansen said.
French flanker Kelian Galletier was more diplomatic, but said he's hoping for a 'fairer' refereeing performance this weekend.
It's not just the French who think the All Blacks get it good, with former English referee Rob Debney claiming there's a subconscious bias towards New Zealand when it comes to contentious decisions.
Others have claimed New Zealand are treated leniently by referees because of their aura as the world's premier team.
The All Blacks assistant Ian Foster said that's codswallop.
"Clearly we don't think we get any favours from the referees at all. I think if you look at the penalty count and yellow cards last year, weren't we one of the top yellow carded teams in the world last year?
Indeed they were, with the All Blacks, alongside Argentina, the most carded Tier One nation last year.
However with World Rugby making moves to lower the maximum height of a tackle from the shoulders to the nipple, fullback Jordie Barrett said the All Blacks have been taking extra steps to make sure they don't fall foul of the rules.
"Anything that's above the shoulders you're getting into dangerous territory. We're working pretty hard on our defensive technique and round the tackle and getting that right, around the waist or under the ball, that's what we're focusing on. There's going to be some time on the sideline if we do get into that head area so, we're working on it," Barrett said.
One working particularly hard on technique is flanker Sam Cane, who could be in for some extra attention from the French forwards after his role in the Grosso tackle.
He believes if the French are distracted by revenge, it could play into the All Blacks hands.
"We often say if teams are doing things like off the ball niggle or things like that it means they're probably diverted from doing their main tasks," Cane said.
If the French allow that to happen, it could be another black night for Les Bleus in Wellington.
-RNZ
