Jonah Lomu's death on Wednesday came as a shock to the world . Tributes have been flowing, as have memories of the legendary winger's exploits on the rugby field...
The Sporting World Reacts to News of All Blacks Legend Jonah Lomu's Sudden Death
Nov 18, 2015
In this June 18, 1995 file photo, New Zealand All Blacks winger Jonah Lomu runs around England's Will Carling on his way to score the opening try in the Rugby World Cup semifinal at Newlands in Cape Town, South Africa. Lomu, whose power and pace revolutionized rugby and whose humility and grace won millions of fans, died early Wednesday, Nov. 18, 2015, New Zealand Rugby said. He was 40. (AP Photo/Ross Setford,File)
The rugby world was in mourning on Wednesday following news that former New Zealand wing Jonah Lomu had passed away in Auckland, aged 40.
Former international team doctor and friend John Mayhew confirmed that Lomu, who suffered from a kidney disorder throughout his career, died of cardiac arrest, per the New Zealand Herald.
The All Blacks great represented his country 63 times, scoring 37 tries in an eight-year international career.
The outpouring of grief on Twitter was overwhelming, and his former New Zealand team-mates were quick to pay their respects to the man.
Lomu inspired a generation of rugby players, including many of the 2011 and 2015 All Blacks, who made history by winning back-to-back Rugby World Cups.
I still can't believe the sad news. Love & thoughts go out to Jonahs family #RIPJonah
Jonah Lomu, Former All Blacks Rugby Star, Dies at Age 40
Nov 17, 2015
New Zeland rugby legend Jonah Lomu, former All Blacks winger, leaves the field, after a training session with his new rugby club of Marseille-Vitrolles, in Vitrolles, southern France, Thursday, Nov. 5, 2009. (AP Photo/Claude Paris)
Former New Zealand rugby star Jonah Lomu died on Wednesday at the age of 40.
The All Blacks, whom Lomu represented on 63 occasions, paid their respects on Twitter:
All Blacks team doctor John Mayhew confirmed Lomu died of a heart attack at his Auckland home, per the Telegraph's Barney Henderson and Vicki Hodges.
"We're all shocked and deeply saddened at the sudden death of Jonah Lomu," New Zealand Rugby Union chief executive Steve Tew said in a statement on the organisation's official Twitter account. "We're lost for words and our heartfelt sympathies go out to Jonah's family. Jonah was a legend of our game and loved by his many fans both here and around the world."
Dan Carter, part of New Zealand's recent 2015 World Cup-winning side, added his condolences:
I still can't believe the sad news. Love & thoughts go out to Jonahs family #RIPJonah
Lomu suffered from nephrotic syndrome, a kidney disorder, throughout his career, per the New Zealand Herald.
He received a kidney transplant in 2004, but it failed in 2011, and he had been undergoing dialysis treatments, according to the Sydney Morning Herald's Tom Decent. The disorder forced Lomu to retire from international rugby in 2002.
Per BBC Sport, Mayhew described Lomu's death as "totally unexpected" to New Zealand television.
England World Cup winner Jonny Wilkinson was among many to pay his respects:
I am so, so devastated to hear of the passing away of @JONAHTALILOMU The greatest superstar and just a fabulous human being. Deeply saddened
Sonny Bill Williams, another star of the recent World Cup triumph, noted what an inspiration Lomu—whose parents were Tongan immigrants—was to Pacific Islanders, per Phil Lutton on Stuff.co.nz:
Everyone has memories. For me, Jonah embodied that islander spirit. You would have to say he was the first proper worldwide rugby superstar.
The thing that stood out for me and a lot of the other young kids was how proud he was of his islander heritage.
That gave us all a sense of pride. When we saw him on the world stage, doing what he was doing and accomplishing what he was accomplishing, that gave us a sense of pride and the feeling that we could do that, that any islander could do that kind of thing.
An All Blacks and rugby legend, Lomu ascended into the public eye during the 1995 World Cup, when he helped lead his country to a runner-up finish.
His devastating performance against England in the semi-finals has gone down in rugby history, per sports journalist Ben Smith:
Never forget first seeing Lomu at his devastating best. Combination of speed & size changed rugby forever https://t.co/EOd1yt6aiD#RIPJonah
South Africa eventually triumphed at the tournament, and Joost van der Westhuizen, the scrum-half for the winning Springboks side, paid an emotional tribute to his former opponent and friend:
Difficult to write with eyes full of tears on my eye tracker. Thank you for EVERYTHING Jonah. RIP my dear friend!
Lomu became the youngest debutant in the history of the All Blacks when he first stepped on the field at the age of 19 years and 45 days, per Decent.
His pace and power on the wing lifted rugby to a new level, forcing opponents to find new ways to shut down the threat of one-on-one situations out wide. He remains the joint holder of the record for the most tries in World Cup history, alongside Bryan Habana, scoring 15 in 11 matches.
Lomu tallied 37 tries in his 63 New Zealand appearances over the course of his illustrious career and cemented himself as one of the most dynamic wingers to ever grace the sport.
Lomu is survived by his wife Nadene and two sons.
What Will the All Blacks Look Like in 12 Months' Time?
Nov 9, 2015
(L-R) All Blacks Ma'a Nonu, Conrad Smith and Dan Carter smile at a parade and official welcome for the rugby team in Auckland on November 4, 2015, following the their Rugby World Cup win against Australia. The New Zealand All Blacks returned to Auckland after they won the Rugby World Cup beating Australia in the final in England. AFP PHOTO / Michael Bradley (Photo credit should read MICHAEL BRADLEY/AFP/Getty Images)
Planning for the future is a major strength when it comes to the New Zealand national rugby team, an institution that's stood at the pinnacle of its field for decades and is now officially its most illustrious ever.
The All Blacks made history after claiming this year's Rugby World Cup to become the first team ever to win back-to-back tournaments, but their crowning moment also came with the realisation an era was at its end.
Dan Carter, Ma'a Nonu, Conrad Smith, Tony Woodcock and Keven Mealamu have all retired from the international arena, per the New Zealand Herald on Sunday, although Richie McCaw is now something of a more uncertain pick for stepping down.
Britain's Prince Charles (C) speaks as his wife Camilla (L), the Duchess of Cornwall and speaker of the house David Carter (2nd L) and members of New Zealand's All Blacks team listen during a parade through the central business district of Wellington on N
However, future planning is something in which New Zealand can consider themselves experts. Where some would deem this as the end of a dynasty, the All Blacks merely consider it the dawn of a new generation.
Yet, perhaps, the changes won't be as widespread as one might imagine in the year to come, with the backs looking like the area coach Steve Hansen most urgently needs to address.
Here, we take a look at the New Zealand squad—who's coming and who's going—in an attempt to predict how the best team in the world will be lining up come the 2016 autumn international series.
Locks the Major Constant in Altered Pack
Starting with a major positive for Hansen's side, one aspect of the All Blacks lineup that simply isn't changing—now, and probably not until 2019—is the second-row partnership of Brodie Retallick and Sam Whitelock.
In a side that was nominated 2015 Team of the Year, the locks stand out as one of their most consistent party pieces, a duo that has shown their ability to duel against the best rugby has to offer.
(From L) New Zealand's fly-half Dan Carter, lock Brodie Retallick and lock Sam Whitelock take part in a team training session in Sunbury-on-Thames, west of London, on October 22, 2015, ahead of their 2015 Rugby Union World Cup semi-final match agains
In the semi-final, they went up against South Africa counterparts Eben Etzebeth and Lood de Jager, another pair tipped as world-beaters, but Retallick and Whitelock were more than up to the task.
Prior to that semi-final clash, former All Black Ali Williams spoke to Tom Hamilton of ESPN Scrum and hailed New Zealand's incumbent second-rowers as a rare mix of athleticism and genetic power, saying, "Sam and Brodie are both workhorses which is surprising for a locking combination as normally you have a power athlete and another who is a workhorse."
But on to the not-so-certain pack aspects. "Experience" is the main word one will hear bandied about when asked what New Zealand stand to lose with the departures of Mealamu and Woodcock this year, two players who boast a gargantuan 250 caps between them.
And yet it's worth pointing out Mealamu, 36, was used sparingly toward the end of his career—he started in just two of his nine Test appearances in 2015—while the replacements are there to fill 34-year-old Woodcock's shoes.
While Wyatt Crockett, 32, may be the man to claim the loosehead throne, it's more than likely Hansen will invest time in developing Joe Moody, who is five years younger than Crockett and more likely to make the 2019 Rugby World Cup.
Moody only came into the World Cup squad this year after Woodcock suffered a hamstring injury, but as writer Neil Treacy acknowledged, the prop deserved major credit for his contributions:
Joe Moody's put in a monster of a shift at the scrum. Proper unsung hero.
Ben Franks is moving on from the front row with his switch to London Irish, but his brother, Owen, will remain to offer an option at tighthead, although Charlie Faumuina will also be pushing for a starting berth.
In Dane Coles, the All Blacks have a hooker who's showing himself to be a new archetype in his possession, displaying a terrific engine throughout 2015, both on international duty and with the Hurricanes.
New Zealand's All Blacks rugby team captain Richie McCaw (C) holds the Webb Ellis Cup during a parade by the team through the central business district of Wellington on November 6, 2015, following their Rugby World Cup win against Australia in England on
And finally we get on to the case of the back row, where speculation would suggest McCaw won't be featuring past this year, even though the Crusaders star appeared to claim otherwise after last month's final.
I still don't want it to end, to be honest. I'm still part of this team. I'm going to enjoy today.
How could you get enough of this? I'll worry about that after today. I'm just going to enjoy having played the World Cup final with a wonderful bunch of men.
I'm so proud of wearing this jersey again today. I don't think you can have enough of it. Why would you ever call it a day?
For that reason, we're backing the 34-year-old to remain in the squad until next year and potentially even make a run at taking on the British and Irish Lions in their 2017 tour.
Jerome Kaino has already agreed a new three-year contract to remain in New Zealand until 2018, and Rugby World's Charlie Morgan summarised how devastating his partnership with McCaw can be at the breakdown:
And here's Kaino (& Richie McCaw) making a vital clear-out prior to Julian Savea's wonder-try against France: pic.twitter.com/7YYb5t2upG
On top of that, New Zealand supporters can look forward to seeing Kieran Read in national team colours for a long time to come, as one of the jewels in their pack's crown continues to assert his candidacy as one of the world's finest No. 8s.
Victor Vito currently looks to be the player currently pushing Read hardest for a place in the starting XV, but at 30, it's now that the incumbent should be reaching the very peak of his powers.
Centre Partnership Conundrum
New Zealand's All Blacks rugby team players Ma'a Nonu (R) and Conrad Smith wave to fans during a parade by the team through the central business district of Wellington on November 6, 2015, following their Rugby World Cup win against Australia in England o
There's no hiding the fact that midfield will hand New Zealand their biggest selection dilemma in 2016, with Nonu and Conrad Smith moving to France's Top 14, leaving space for an entirely new centre combination.
What's more Sonny Bill Williams' plans to compete for a place in New Zealand's Sevens team ahead of the 2016 Rio Olympics means he'll also be absent from selection to complicate matters further.
Fortunately, the All Blacks' strength in depth means a player like Malakai Fekitoa brings huge quality to the back line, despite not managing much playing time at the World Cup.
It would be folly to suggest that absence is down to any shortage in the 23-year-old's talents; it is more due to Nonu and Smith's rare quality.
Bath full-back Luke Arscott rightly pointed out the fact Fekitoa couldn't make the squad for New Zealand's final was merely testament to their power in numbers:
Fekitoa, Naholo, plus others. These boys plus others would walk into most international 15s. Can't even make #allblacks 23. #strength
The Highlanders won Super Rugby last year with Fekitoa as one of their main inspirations, and while he looks set to inherit the No. 13 jersey, George Moala could be the man to line up inside him.
The Blues' utility earned his first and only New Zealand cap in a win over Samoa earlier this year, where the 25-year-old featured on the wing, but as Eat Sleep Rugby showed, he possesses stopping power many midfielders dream of:
Alesana Tuilagi against George Moala round 2! Good match up between these two. https://t.co/VIROV7a8yr
Charlie Ngatai and Ryan Crotty will also have a say in who ends up succeeding at centre, but Moala currently stands out as the athletic and technically proficient player capable of filling Nonu's boots.
The other big change comes at fly-half, but the situation is a familiar one considering Carter's past injury woes started the search for his heir years ago.
Some would see a fit-again Aaron Cruden take the No. 10 throne, but recovering from a long-term knee injury in time to star for 2016 is a big ask for the 26-year-old. Others might say Lima Sopoaga, 24, is the athlete needed to drive the position on.
However, we say it's now Beauden Barrett's time to shine, and after leading the Hurricanes in Super Rugby and playing as New Zealand's World Cup super substitute, he has an opportunity to mature in a starting capacity.
Journalist Brendan Gallagher identified the 24-year-old as Carter's "logical successor:"
The wings pick themselves for Hansen, as it's possible Julian Savea, 25, and Nehe Milner-Skudder, 24, could rule the wide areas for two more World Cups if they keep themselves fit.
The pedigree of that pair was emphasised after Breathe Sport noted Savea won 2015 Try of the Year for one of his scores in the quarter-final against France, while Milner-Skudder was dubbed Breakthrough Player of the Year:
Behind that duo sits 2015 Super Rugby winner Waisake Naholo, telling a tale of just how stacked the wing department is, and that's without mentioning the talents of the versatile Ben Smith.
Hansen will pray his 29-year-old full-back isn't needed to fill in on the wing much between now and hanging up his boots.
LONDON, ENGLAND - OCTOBER 31: Ben Smith of New Zealand heads to the sin-bin during the 2015 Rugby World Cup Final match between New Zealand and Australia at Twickenham Stadium on October 31, 2015 in London, United Kingdom. (Photo by Phil Walter/Getty Im
And the same can be said for the final entrant in our New Zealand 2016 XV, Aaron Smith, the scrum-half who so consistently made things tick for the All Blacks throughout their World Cup triumph.
And so we see there shouldn't actually be that much change to come for a side that quite honestly doesn't need it; the changes may see big departures, but that doesn't mean those coming in can't achieve similar wonders.
Rugby World Cup 2015: All Blacks Show Brain Is Mightier Than Brawn
Nov 1, 2015
New Zealand's captain Richie McCaw holds the trophy aloft after the Rugby World Cup final between New Zealand and Australia at Twickenham Stadium in London, Saturday, Oct. 31, 2015. The All Blacks won 34-17. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)
For all the brutality of many of the earlier games of this Rugby World Cup, and notwithstanding the two Wallabies lost to injuries before half-time yesterday, the All Blacks victory was a triumph for grey matter over grunt.
Yes, they stood strong in the scrum, hit rucks with ferocity and made their tackles, but it was the way New Zealand thought their way out of problems that was most impressive about their 34-17 win.
Take the first 20 minutes. They were sending runners into traffic to bludgeon their way toward Australia’s line, and it wasn’t working.
The quality combination of David Pocock and Michael Hooper was producing turnover ball that their team-mates could clear, and the All Blacks were reduced to kicking their goals when penalty chances arose—no bad thing when your kicker is Dan Carter, of course.
But it was the clever way New Zealand changed tack that marks this team as a cut above the rest. Acknowledging that they were coming off second best at the breakdown, they decided it would be more prescient to keep the ball off the floor, to pass out of the tackle rather than die with the ball.
It is no surprise that the player who took this philosophy to its most profitable conclusion was Conrad Smith, who took a pass from Aaron Smith, ran into his defenders, turned his back and popped the ball to the scrum-half, sucking in two Wallabies tacklers and giving Smith, Richie McCaw and Nehe-Milner Skudder a majority share of the right side of the field for the wing to exploit with a try.
The pre-game talk of the threat posed by Pocock and Hooper on the ground was also clearly not lost on Steve Hansen’s men. The best way to stop them slowing your ball down or nicking it at the ruck is to ensure they don’t get there.
As the Guardian’s Dean Ryan pointed out, New Zealand operated their lineout in such a way as to keep Pocock handcuffed to it as often as possible.
These are two examples of how New Zealand simply outthought Australia in ways to nullify them where they were strong and exploit them where they were weak.
This was all helped, of course, by having the coolest man on the field pulling their strings. Dan Carter was majestic in his work. After that turbo-charged fightback by Australia following Ma’a Nonu’s try, Carter most certainly kept his head in those moments when all around him could have started losing theirs.
His drop goal to widen the gap from four to seven points was straight out of the Jonny Wilkinson text on how to quell a rugby uprising.
Australia had the scent of blood in their nostrils, they had forged a way back into the fight. But Carter, from 40 metres out, simply shut the door on them with a shuffle to his left and a swing of the boot. It could not have been timed any better
It visibly sunk Australian shoulders, and his penalty from even further out a few minutes later knocked them off their feet.
As they'd done against South Africa a week earlier, New Zealand always looked like having too much for Australia, and could ladle on as much quality as they deemed necessary to keep them off their tails.
In a game that has been widely acclaimed the best World Cup final of the lot, New Zealand showed the world just how much work they have to do to catch them.
Rugby World Cup 2015: All Black Legends Face the Duo Who Wrecked Their World
Oct 15, 2015
France's captain Thierry Dusautoir (L) and New Zealand All Blacks captain Richie McCaw (R) lead their teams ont the field during the 2011 Rugby World Cup final match New Zealand vs France at Eden Park Stadium in Auckland on October 23, 2011. AFP PHOTO / PHIL WALTER / POOL (Photo credit should read PHIL WALTER/AFP/Getty Images)
Only four players will run out in Cardiff, Wales, on Saturday who featured in the famous 2007 World Cup quarter-final between New Zealand and France.
Respective captains Richie McCaw and Thierry Dusautoir and opposing fly-halves Dan Carter and Frederic Michalak are the four survivors from that heady night in the Welsh capital.
It was an occasion remembered not just for the shock result, but for so much more; the maniacal, bearded stare of Sebastien Chabal; the red, white and blue shirts France wore as they faced the Haka; the puzzling grey get-up worn by the All Blacks; the fact it was France’s World Cup and here they were, playing for their lives in Wales; and the night referee Wayne Barnes became as popular in New Zealand as a compendium of sheep gags.
These four men share the memory of that encounter, and, eight years later, are bound by one other irrefutable fact: This will be their last shot at the World Cup.
Let’s have a look at each player’s part in that famous game and see what’s changed since then as we seek clues as to who’ll come out on top in the Rugby World Cup 2015 clash on Saturday.
Richie McCaw
CARDIFF, UNITED KINGDOM - OCTOBER 06: Richie McCaw of New Zealand can't hide his disappointment at the post-match press conference during the Quarter Final of the Rugby World Cup 2007 match between New Zealand and France at the Millennium Stadium on Octo
Then: England’s class of 2015 are now familiar with the harrowed, pale expression that rested on the All Blacks skipper’s visage in 2007. After the defeat, McCaw looked like someone—or 15 Frenchmen—had walked over his grave.
It was the earliest New Zealand had ever exited the World Cup and could conceivably have cost McCaw his job as captain.
Years later, even after the All Blacks had beaten France to win the World Cup in 2011, McCaw was clearly still struggling to accept the loss.
Writing in his book, The Open Side, per ESPN, McCaw opined that referee Barnes had been a major factor in the defeat:
My beef isn't with Barnes so much as with his inexperience. This was Barnes' biggest game by far. On the big stage, an inexperienced referee is likely to become so afraid of making a mistake that he stops making any decisions at all.
By the end of it, I thought Barnes was frozen with fear and wouldn't make any big calls.
Barnes was the focus of the outpouring of angst following the defeat, having failed to rule on what looked a forward pass in the build up to Yannick Jauzion’s winning try and also paying particular attention to McCaw’s work at the ruck.
The Guardian’s William Fotheringham pointed out in his post-match analysis: “Barnes...penalised Richie McCaw early enough at the breakdown to set the tone for the whole game.”
Now: McCaw did survive, as did that New Zealand coaching team, and together they went on to win the World Cup in 2011.
The 34-year-old is now the world’s most-capped player, rated by South African boss Heyneke Meyer as the best ever and will retire from All Blacks duty when this tournament is done.
He still wields a huge influence on this New Zealand side with his experience and leadership, but doubts have begun to creep in that Father Time is starting to tap him on the shoulder.
His yellow card and penalty count have risen with age, as Stuff.co.nz’s Andy Fryers points out:
As well as Michael Hooper, McCaw also concedes more penalties per match than South Africa's Schalk Burger, France's Thierry Dusautoir, England's Chris Robshaw and the Welsh flanker Sam Warburton.
McCaw's higher penalty rate stretches back at least as far as the last Rugby World Cup in 2011. However, his offending seems to have gotten worse.
In his 40 test starts since winning the World Cup, McCaw has averaged 1.48 penalties per match. In his last 20, the rate has increased to 1.7 and in his last ten, to 2 penalties per match.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KhzuorMfWrw
Indeed, he has seen yellow in this World Cup for a trip on Argentina’s Juan Martin Fernandez Lobbe.
McCaw has always been famed for his ability to push the laws of the game to their limit, but perhaps with the march of time has come a downgrading of that skill.
Where once he was fast enough to evade capture in the act of skulduggery, he now gets collared.
Thierry Dusautoir
Then: If that night was McCaw’s bete noire, the 2007 quarter-final was the moment Thierry Dusautoir announced himself as a modern great.
The French back-rower made 38 tackles that night, and he scored his side’s first try in a performance that is still talked about to this day as one of the greatest defensive displays the game has ever seen.
To put that tackle count into some sort of context, he has played three games in this tournament and made only seven more than the total he amassed in that 80 minutes.
It’s remarkable to think now that the Toulouse talisman was not originally picked in the squad for that tournament, and he finished it with then-France defensive coach Dave Ellis lavishing praise on him.
"There is no emotion on his face; it is difficult to get two words out of him," he said, per the Guardian. "He just sits there calmly and takes everything in, then he goes out on to the field and changes into a monster. He's the dark destroyer."
Now: As captain, Dusautoir is France’s inspiration. He dragged them back into the 2011 World Cup final with a try in that 8-7 defeat, and he has been the totem around which Philippe Saint-Andre’s erratic selection policy has revolved.
If anything, the changing faces around the 33-year-old rather than his own form fluctuations have been the main hindrance to his influence on this French team.
But his importance was perhaps underlined most when he ruptured a bicep and missed the 2014 Six Nations. France finished fourth. This year, he battled back from a knee problem to face Scotland in France’s final pre-tournament loosener.
The Observer’s Iain Malin wrote that Dusautoir’s “first appearance on the big screen before the match received a deafening cheer from a fervent crowd,” and described him as a “key figure on his return after injury.”
A year younger than McCaw, there may be more left in the tank for Dusautoir if this game goes into the trenches. And that will bring a test of nerve for New Zealand coach Steve Hansen.
If the miles on McCaw’s clock catch up with him in the last 20 minutes, does his coach sacrifice the leader, whose decision-making is such a prized asset, for the energy of his younger heir Sam Cane, or does he let these two warriors go to the final bell?
Make no mistake, if this one is close, McCaw will not depart quietly.
Dan Carter
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pQIiK6UpzMk
Then: A 25-year-old Carter, already the world’s most prodigious No. 10, limped out of the action after 55 minutes and watched his team implode without him eight years ago.
In Carter’s absence, Nick Evans took the reins and was unable to calm the panicked ranks of grey-shirted players around him.
The following year saw the Canterbury man swap Christchurch for Catalonia for a brief spell with Perpignan, perhaps in a bid to better understand the psyche of the nation who had twice risen from the dead to wreck All Black World Cup dreams.
Carter was denied his own personal chance at redemption in 2011 when injury ruled him out of the World Cup knockout rounds.
His understudy Aaron Cruden then got injured early in the final, and Stephen Donald, plucked from a spot of fishing to join the squad during the tournament after Carter went lame, rose from the bench to steer a nerve-shredded host nation to the promised land.
Now: Carter is bowing out along with McCaw when New Zealand’s World Cup is done. His next stop is a second stint in France with Racing 92.
Before then, he has unfinished business with this tournament. From back-up to the mercurial Carlos Spencer in 2003, to injury victim at crucial points of both the 2007 and 2011 iterations, the Webb Ellis Cup has left unwanted blanks on Carter’s CV.
He has tuned up for this knockout clash with a purring display against Tonga that saw the 33-year-old somewhere near his untouchable best. Hansen, concurs, per the Independent:
Physically he is one of the best tackling first five-eighths in the business, and his passing and kicking game has just got better and better. I think he’s a way better player now than when he started – a smarter player who understands the game a lot more. He was a raw talent back then; now he’s the full package.
In the same piece by Hugh Godwin, Carter’s back-up man in 2007, Nick Evans, draws perhaps the most poignant comparison when assessing Carter’s World Cup record.
When everyone is talking about the best soccer player in the world it always comes back to: ‘Yeah, he was great, but he never did anything in the World Cup’ or ‘he won two or three, like Pele, so he’s better.’ And you can say the same for Dan Carter. Arguably one of the best players of our generation but he hasn’t done that well in a World Cup.
This is Carter’s last chance to avoid joining that club.
Frederic Michalak
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WyPinnedOtc
Then: Michalak was the only one of this illustrious quartet not to start in 2007.
Then a 24-year-old magician from Toulouse, he came off the bench to replace Lionel Beauxis in the second half with France 18-13 down.
And it was he who took receipt of the most controversial pass in World Cup history—which doesn’t look any further backward no matter how many times you watch it.
Barnes saw nothing untoward with Damien Traille’s handling, however, and Michalak scampered on, spinning out of a tackle and feeding Jauzion for the try that levelled the game.
Now: Michalak, who turns 33 the day before this game, is part of the unstoppable Toulon side, taking over the reins at fly-half from Jonny Wilkinson and leaving much of the flair he built his name on behind.
Wilkinson, remember, was Michalak's tormentor in-chief when England battered France into submission in the 2003 World Cup semi-final.
Now tutored by the retired England star, Michalak is a player transformed, as French forwards coach Yannick Bru told the Guardian: "We have lost the carefree boy who surfed on the wave of his talent and we have before us now a model professional player whose thirst for work is never quenched."
Behind a juggernaut pack and with a back line stocked with world-class names, Michalak is more facilitator than alchemist these days.
The tricks come out now and again, and we have seen some delights from him during the pool stages. He went missing in the last game against Ireland, however, and can ill afford to shrink from view again this weekend.
Which Pair Will Prevail?
There is a strange symmetry about the meeting of these pairs in this fixture some eight years later.
Two back-row warriors from the same mould will lead their sides out, but their fates may well lie in the hands of the other pair, the two men still with something to prove on the biggest stage of all.
It is surely too much to expect Dusautoir and Michalak to wreck All Black dreams again.
But as we saw in Brighton on the opening weekend, this game can make fools of us all.
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