Friday 28th September 2007
After a quiet week that included a two-day break away from rugby the All Blacks will travel South West to the French city of Toulouse, to wrap up what has been a mundane Pool C campaign for the World Cup favourites.
For what it is worth, their opponents on the day, Romania, will not be playing against a full-strength All Black team at the Stade Municipal on Saturday. We suspect that won't make too big a difference to the final result though.
The Romanians will, however be very aware of the fact that Graham Henry's team still has a lot to prove to a hyper-critical rugby fraternity despite having won their first three World Cup games comprehensively.
It is the relative ease with which the All Blacks have won this Pool that would, and probably should, worry the New Zealand rugby faithful.
Popular opinion has it that the All Blacks have been 'underdone' ahead of the knock-out stage of the tournament.
Two players that have probably been most underdone are utility backs Luke McAlister and Nick Evans.
The former ought to take over the reins at pivot for the potential quarter-final against France and possibly even further in the tournament, depending on how severe the calf injury to Daniel Carter is.
Evans has been forced to play at full-back in the absence of regular full-backs Leon MacDonald (thigh) and Mils Muliaina (hamstring). However, he could also have a critical role to play in the rest of the tournament.
Both Evans and McAlister will need to get as much out of the Romania game as they possibly can, just in case Henry doesn't have his regular players in time for the knock-out stages.
Henry has opted to field a different midfield pairing yet again. This the one area that New Zealand selectors haven't looked at all certain on since Tana Umaga retired from the international game in 2005.
Surely the All Blacks would have wanted to settle the matter of a centre partnership before the final Pool game in this World Cup? That is clearly not the case.
In order for a centre combination to be most effective they need to play as much rugby together as possible and that hasn't really happened for New Zealand in the Pool stage.
This Saturday's combination, Isaia Toeava and Aaron Mauger, may just be their best centre pairing and Henry may have stumbled upon it by accident - through injury
Another frailty in the All Black team is at lock. The two starters in the second row for Saturday's match, Reuben Thorne and Keith Robinson, have just returned from injury and will also want to take as much out of the game as they possibly can.
What this ultimately means for Romania is that they can expect an onslaught of mammoth proportions from a team desperate to silence its critics - which they are very capable of doing.
Romania put on a brave fight against Italy in their 24-18 loss earlier in the Pool stage but struggled against Portugal on Tuesday this week.
The Romanian team that played Os Lobos is very different from that will play the All Blacks and should provide stern opposition ... at least in the early stages.
The return of Sorin Socol to the second row will bolster both the Romanian scrum and line-out.
This is one area where Socol will feel his team can make an impact of some sorts against a New Zealand lock pairing that may be a touch underdone.
As is the case with all the World Cup minnows, Romania will seek to utilise their size and strength against the All Blacks, by standing up to Jerry Collins' forward pack.
Finally, if they hope to minimise the damage against the Tri-Nations champions, Romania will also have to improve on their defence patterns.
Ones to watch:
For Romania
The 30-year-old Sorin Socol will add some stability to the Romanian set-pieces and his leadership, experience and motivational skills will prove useful against the All Blacks. Socol has an important role to play against the All Blacks and he needs to lead from the front.
For New Zealand
There are many players to watch here but Luke McAlister starting at pivot will give a clear indication of how prepared Graham Henry's All Blacks really are for the bigger World Cup contests. The 25-year-old utility-back has a solid kicking game and is a natural runner with ball. Although he has been proven to crack under pressure in the past, he can be an absolute gem on the field when at his best.
Head to head:
Once again, it should be a one-sided affair but if Romania hope to make an impression anywhere, it will be in the line-outs. While the Romanian captain Socol is one of the players to watch, keep an eye out for the 28-year-old Cristian Petre at number five. The duel between him and Chiefs stalwart Keith Robinson could be intriguing.
Previous Results:
1981: New Zealand won 14-6 Bucharest, Romania
Prediction: It is elementary really. The All Blacks, although slightly handicapped by the absence of key players will emerge convincing victors. Romania might resist for the first quarter, but even that isn't a guarantee. Expect the All Blacks to accumulate at least 80 points against the European minnows.
New Zealand: 15 Nick Evans, 14 Joe Rokocoko, 13 Isaia Toeava, 12 Aaron Mauger, 11 Sitiveni Sivivatu, 10 Luke McAlister, 9 Andy Ellis, 8 Sione Lauaki, 7 Chris Masoe, 6 Jerry Collins (c), 5 Keith Robinson, 4 Reuben Thorne, 3 Greg Somerville, 2 Keven Mealamu, 1 Neemia Tialata.
Replacements: 16 Andrew Hore, 17 Tony Woodcock, 18 Chris Jack, 19 Richie McCaw, 20 Brendon Leonard, 21 Doug Howlett, 22 Conrad Smith.
Romania: 15 Iulian Dumitras, 14 Stefan Ciuntu, 13 Csaba Gal, 12 Romeo Gontineac, 11 Gabriel Brezoianu, 10 Ionut Dimofte, 9 Lucian Sirbu, 8 Ovidiu Tonita, 7 Alexandru Manta, 6 Florin Corodeanu, 5 Cristian Petre, 4 Sorin Socol (c), 3 Silviu Florea, 2 Marius Tincu, 1 Bogdan Balan.
Replacements: 16 Razvan Mavrodin, 17 Paulica Ion, 18 Valentin Ursache, 19 Cosmin Ratiu, 20 Valentin Calafeteanu, 21 Florin Vlaicu, 22 Catalin Robert Dascalu.
Date: Saturday, 29 September
Kick-off: 13:00 (12:00 BST, 11:00 GMT)
Venue: Stade Municipal, Toulouse
Referee: Joël Jutge
Touch judges: Federico Cuesta, Malcolm Changleng
Television match official: Paul Marks
Assessor: Tappe Henning
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