NEWS ROUND-UP:ALL BLACKS outhalf Dan Carter could be in doubt for their Pool A clash against Japan on Friday after he suffered a sore back in the tournament opener against Tonga.
Carter was hit hard in the 41-10 victory over the Pacific islanders last Friday and had been receiving ice treatment but was slowly recovering, assistant coach Steve Hansen said yesterday. “Dan’s coming right. He’s a bit sore. We’ll just have to see how he goes,” Hansen said, while adding that veterans Mils Muliaina and Conrad Smith could start against the Japanese as the selectors continue to tinker with their starting side.
“You might see Conrad Smith come back into the centres. I don’t think too many people are going to see that as a negative. You might see someone like Mils (Muliaina) get a start so we can sort out which of those two is playing the best to go through the rest of the tournament,” he added in reference to Muliaina’s battle with Israel Dagg for the fullback jersey.
Since the Tongan game there have been increasing appeals from former All Blacks and fans alike for the coaching panel to pick their strongest side for the remaining pool games. Team selection has been a bone of contention for the rugby-mad New Zealand public ever since the last World Cup, when the same coaching panel experimented with a policy of rotation at the cost of building combinations within the team.
Many pundits believe the All Blacks earliest exit from a World Cup tournament, courtesy of a stunning 20-18 defeat at the hands of France in the 2007 quarter-final, was directly attributable to the policy.
It seems the All Blacks coaches have been listening – to a point.
“We’ve had one game; we’ve selected a side that we believe was pretty much the strongest side we could have picked for that particular game (against Tonga) and the core of that side you’ll see on Friday,” Hansen added. “But in saying that, it is a long tournament and you’re going to need to bring people in and out of it on occasion, but not wholesale changes.”
Aurelien Rougerie and Francois Trinh-Duc were two of the few survivors from France’s stuttering opening victory over Japan as Marc Lievremont made wholesale changes for Sunday’s Pool A clash with Canada. Hooker William Servat and outhalf Trinh-Duc were the only players named yesterday by Lievremont in the same positions from the opening 47-21 bonus-point win against the Asian and Pacific Nations Cup champions on Saturday.
“I expressed doubts of my willingness to rotate. But the 30 players have pleased me in the build-up and warm-up matches,” Lievremont said. “I needed to give game time to certain players and to give them the opportunity to play in the most decisive and difficult matches. It was logical to have another look at everyone.”
The coach retains Rougerie but switched him from centre to the left wing to take the place of Vincent Clerc, who shifts to the right.
Captain Thierry Dusautoir was left out of the match-day 22 with Fulgence Ouedraogo coming in on the side of the scrum and Rougerie taking over the armband.
Argentina coach Santiago Phelan has paid Romania the ultimate compliment by naming his strongest team for Saturday’s Pool B game in Invercargill, with just two injury-enforced changes from the side edged by England. Marcelo Bosch comes in for centre Gonzalo Tiesi, who is out of the tournament with a knee injury, while Lucas Gonzalez Amorosino will start at fullback.
FRANCE (v Canada):D Traille; V Clerc, D Marty, M Mermoz, A Rougerie; F Trinh-Duc, M Parra; J B Poux, W Servat, L Ducalcon, P Pape, R Millo-Chluski, F Ouedraogo, L Picamoles. Replacements: G Guirado, F Barcella, J Pierre, I Harinordoquy, D Yachvili, F Estebanez, M Medard.
ARGENTINA (v Romania):L Gonzalez Amorosino; G Camacho, M Bosch, M Rodriguez, H Agulla; S Fernandez, Nicolas Vergallo; , R Roncero, M Ledesma, J Figallo, M Carizza, P Albacete, J Cabello, J-M Leguizamon, J Fernandez Lobbe (capt). Replacements: A Creevy, M Scelzo, M Galarza, A Campos, A Lalanne, N Sanchez, J Imhoff.
