Sean Fitzpatrick’s statement that France’s premier club competition is superior to Super Rugby Pacific serves as a timely warning for the All Blacks as they prepare to play Argentina on Sunday morning.
When the All Blacks play their first Rugby Championship test of the year in Mendoza, it will be against a Pumas side peppered with players who earn their salaries with Top 14 clubs in France.
The demise of the Jaguares, who dropped out of Super Rugby when the pandemic cut the competition short in early 2020, forced Argentina’s test players to seek their money in the northern hemisphere and many of them are now domiciled in France.
Former All Blacks captain Fitzpatrick, who lives in England, has no doubt the French competition has been instrumental in super-charging its test team, which won the Six Nations and is listed No 2 behind Ireland in the World Rugby rankings.
“France and Ireland are the two best teams in the world at the moment,” Fitzpatrick told Sky Sport’s The Breakdown show.
“The Top 14 in France is probably the best rugby competition in the world at the moment, purely for the week-in, week-out – they are still playing now.”
John Selkirk
Former All Blacks captain Sean Fitzpatrick says the French club competition has been instrumental in building a competitive test team ahead of the World Cup.
Asked if it was a higher quality than Super Rugby, Fitzpatrick was blunt: “I think at the moment, yeah. I think the quality of players. They are bigger, they are faster, they are stronger. Which then carries on into the international game.”
The competitive nature of the Top 14 does more than groom French passport holders for higher honours; it also benefits the foreigners, including the large number of Argentines who transferred north after the demise of the Jaguares.
Pumas coach Michael Cheika has named 19 players from French clubs in his 48-man squad ahead of the test against the All Blacks, and a number of the men who have played in the Top 14 are likely to feature in Mendoza.
KAI SCHWOERER/Stuff
Caleb Clarke scored a try for the All Blacks when they played Argentina in Christchurch last year, but it wasn’t enough to prevent a 25-18 defeat.
While flanker Marcos Kremer won’t be available because of five-week suspension, a consequence of being found guilty of a dangerous ruck entry while playing for Stade Francais in the Top 14 quarter-final, Cheika could includes the likes of Guido Petti, Tomas Lavanini and Santiago Grondona in his forward pack.
Those three were members of the Pumas team that achieved the historic 25-18 win over the All Blacks in Christchurch last year. No 8 Pablo Matera, who represented the Crusaders last year and now plays in Japan, has also been included in Cheika’s squad.
Juan Cruz Mallia, Juan Imhoff, Bautista Delguy, Jeronimo de la Fuente and Tomas Cubelli and Nicolas Sanchez, all were aligned with French clubs this year, could also be candidates for the backline.
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Pablo Matera of Argentina charges forward against the All Blacks during the test in Christchurch last year.
Fitzpatrick’s statement about the merits of the Top 14 comes at a time when NZ Rugby and Rugby Australia are yet to create a commission to oversee Super Rugby Pacific, much to the frustration of the New Zealand franchises.
None of this is All Blacks coach Ian Foster’s problem. His primary goal is to get his selections right and win in Mendoza before the squad boards a charter flight back to New Zealand the following day to prepare to play the Springboks in Auckland a week later.
Even without the intimidating Kremer, who made 26 tackles in the test in Christchurch, Cheika can name an experienced 23-man side for the fixture at Estadio Malvinas Argentinas.
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Argentina celebrate their first-ever victory over the All Blacks on New Zealand soil after the 25-18 win in Christchurch.
“Our preparation has been good, it has been different,” Cheika told Sky Sport. “We have done a lot of things remotely, due to some of the restrictions put on us by players not being all together.
“Coming in from Europe, and we can actually get ourselves together. But I have been really pleased with the way things are going. Looking forward to getting to Mendoza, and getting into it.”
The All Blacks will name their team on Friday morning.
