All Blacks v France, Wellington
All Blacks -21.5
For those of you who may have taken the ABs at -14.5 at various books (eg Centrebet) when this first opened, the opportunity for a middle at the above line (NSW TAB) is well worth an investment.
This is a very hard encounter to handicap - the French are inconsistency personified. But if you wish to have action on the game, it's the visitors who offer value.
They have made 7 changes from the 15-20 loss to South Africa last weekend and coach Bernard Laporte admits he's looking ahead with his line-up. They have a virtual new side since their disappointing Six Nations efforts and produced a huge shock with their first-up 32-23 win against the Boks.
So while it's nowhere near that same side, it does mean fatigue should be less of a factor and the new caps will be highly eager to impress. The French will aim to take on the All Blacks up front, suspecting there is still a softness to the pack that lingers since the shock World Cup semi defeat that threw NZ into national mourning 2 years ago.
The ABs have warmed up with comfortable wins over Samoa (50-6) and Argentina (67-19), in which some very good was intermingled with a bit of ordinary.
First-five Andrew Mehrtens is out thru injury, leaving Tony Brown at No10 to pair up with Justin Marshall in a rarely-tried partnership. Ron Cribb comes back in at No 8 while Taine Randell will start his first test as an openside flanker.
It's expected to be a cool, and possibly wet night in Wellington, which will favour the team getting points. And given their ability to rattle and surprise the ABs recently, the French loom as good value. Consider this - last week we saw Argentina rated at -26.5 v the ABs. Is a side which covered twice away v Sth Africa (winning one SU) and has beaten their opponents twice in their last three meetings worth only another five points? I'd have the line much closer to the original released, so if you're going to have a punt (I may yet sit this one out) I'd recommend...
PLAY FRANCE +21.5
All Blacks -21.5
For those of you who may have taken the ABs at -14.5 at various books (eg Centrebet) when this first opened, the opportunity for a middle at the above line (NSW TAB) is well worth an investment.
This is a very hard encounter to handicap - the French are inconsistency personified. But if you wish to have action on the game, it's the visitors who offer value.
They have made 7 changes from the 15-20 loss to South Africa last weekend and coach Bernard Laporte admits he's looking ahead with his line-up. They have a virtual new side since their disappointing Six Nations efforts and produced a huge shock with their first-up 32-23 win against the Boks.
So while it's nowhere near that same side, it does mean fatigue should be less of a factor and the new caps will be highly eager to impress. The French will aim to take on the All Blacks up front, suspecting there is still a softness to the pack that lingers since the shock World Cup semi defeat that threw NZ into national mourning 2 years ago.
The ABs have warmed up with comfortable wins over Samoa (50-6) and Argentina (67-19), in which some very good was intermingled with a bit of ordinary.
First-five Andrew Mehrtens is out thru injury, leaving Tony Brown at No10 to pair up with Justin Marshall in a rarely-tried partnership. Ron Cribb comes back in at No 8 while Taine Randell will start his first test as an openside flanker.
It's expected to be a cool, and possibly wet night in Wellington, which will favour the team getting points. And given their ability to rattle and surprise the ABs recently, the French loom as good value. Consider this - last week we saw Argentina rated at -26.5 v the ABs. Is a side which covered twice away v Sth Africa (winning one SU) and has beaten their opponents twice in their last three meetings worth only another five points? I'd have the line much closer to the original released, so if you're going to have a punt (I may yet sit this one out) I'd recommend...
PLAY FRANCE +21.5
