eBusiness Weekly
New Zealand’s 2011 Rugby World Cup-winning head coach Sir Graham Henry (pictured right) believes that France will be difficult to stop on home turf.
Fabien Galthie has built a strong squad during this four-year cycle and ended their 12-year wait for a Grand Slam when they claimed the Six Nations title in 2022.
Although Les Bleus failed to defend their crown, they were not far off Ireland and finished in second position following four victories in five. Galthie’s men have also beaten every other tier one nation over the past couple of years which stands them in good stead ahead of the global tournament.
The challenge for Ireland and France
Henry therefore sees them as favourites alongside the Irish, although the former New Zealand boss insists that both teams have some demons to overcome.
“The Irish and the French are favourites, there’s no doubt about that. They’ve beaten the All Blacks in recent times,” he told Stuff.
“The Irish are Six Nations champions, the French are scary, a very strong side and they’re playing at home. The challenge for those two teams is that they’ve never won it and the Irish have never got past the quarter-finals, so it’d be a lot of pressure on them to change that.
“The French are playing at home and that will create its own pressure.”
As for the All Blacks, Henry is content with where they are at and believes that Ian Foster’s men have a “good chance” of regaining the Webb Ellis Cup.
“We’ve got a strong group of players and when it gets down to the 33, there will be players who will have come back from injury. I’m quietly confident we will do the business,” he added.
Rugby Championship squad
Foster named his 36-man squad for the Rugby Championship recently and Henry liked what he saw, despite a couple of surprising omissions.
“I think it’s very good. I agreed with the majority. It’s a pretty strong side, there’s a huge amount of experience and also some very good young players who have been introduced,” he said.
“You feel sorry for one or two guys, which happens every year. Brad Weber’s someone who has been getting quite a bit of media attention. He sparks teams, he’s a great guy to have in the group and he’s also a very talented footballer, so for Brad to miss out is disappointing.
“Shaun Stevenson’s probably been one of the big players of this Super Rugby season and he’s had a big year for the Chiefs.
“I see he’s a replacement for Mark Telea, who’s injured, but he’s had a big year. You feel for those two guys, but in general I think the team selected looks very good.” — planetrugby
