02/10/2007
NZPA
At a World Cup where the All Blacks reckon they've left no stone unturned, this, perhaps was the final pebble.
New Zealand manager Darren Shand was to have tossed a coin with a French counterpart earlier today (NZ time), with the losing team to wear an alternative strip for Sunday morning's quarterfinal in Cardiff.
France have darkened their blue jersey for this tournament, much to the annoyance of the New Zealand Rugby Union, meaning one of the teams will need to change their jersey colour as the All Blacks did for their pool game against Scotland.
However, the right people never crossed paths today, leaving the toss postponed 24 hours and a fidgety Shand with time to work on his technique.
`I've never seen a man so nervous in my life," assistant coach Wayne Smith said.
"Shandy's getting himself keyed up tonight with a few practice sessions."
The spotlight on Shand follows his performance with the coin at a pre-Cup meeting of managers in Paris.
There he lost every toss, which left New Zealand second to all other teams when matters such as jersey colours and choice of changing rooms were determined in pool play.
A game of two-up (tossing two coins) was underway inside the All Blacks camp today to create a "match-like situation", Smith deadpanned.
At the same press conference a more serious Smith addressed the more pressing issue of his team's readiness for the knockout phase.
He said all had fallen into place in pool play, including when France lost their first game against Argentina
It left the All Blacks coaches convinced from early on that the French would be this weekend's opposition.
"It was on the cards, wasn't it?" Smith said.
"It's given us a great opportunity over a number of weeks to watch them, to be really specific with our planning and be ready for them. And that's what we've done."
Smith said detailed preparation was a core part of the All Blacks' campaign, with few question marks left unattended since the current regime began planning for the tournament under head coach Graham Henry in 2004.
"The World Cup began for us three years ago," Smith said.
"We've had plenty of time to plan for it, we've road tested a lot of what's happening here (Europe), it feels like we're coming home half the time, to the places we've been."
New Zealand manager Darren Shand was to have tossed a coin with a French counterpart earlier today (NZ time), with the losing team to wear an alternative strip for Sunday morning's quarterfinal in Cardiff.
France have darkened their blue jersey for this tournament, much to the annoyance of the New Zealand Rugby Union, meaning one of the teams will need to change their jersey colour as the All Blacks did for their pool game against Scotland.
However, the right people never crossed paths today, leaving the toss postponed 24 hours and a fidgety Shand with time to work on his technique.
`I've never seen a man so nervous in my life," assistant coach Wayne Smith said.
"Shandy's getting himself keyed up tonight with a few practice sessions."
The spotlight on Shand follows his performance with the coin at a pre-Cup meeting of managers in Paris.
There he lost every toss, which left New Zealand second to all other teams when matters such as jersey colours and choice of changing rooms were determined in pool play.
A game of two-up (tossing two coins) was underway inside the All Blacks camp today to create a "match-like situation", Smith deadpanned.
At the same press conference a more serious Smith addressed the more pressing issue of his team's readiness for the knockout phase.
He said all had fallen into place in pool play, including when France lost their first game against Argentina
It left the All Blacks coaches convinced from early on that the French would be this weekend's opposition.
"It was on the cards, wasn't it?" Smith said.
"It's given us a great opportunity over a number of weeks to watch them, to be really specific with our planning and be ready for them. And that's what we've done."
Smith said detailed preparation was a core part of the All Blacks' campaign, with few question marks left unattended since the current regime began planning for the tournament under head coach Graham Henry in 2004.
"The World Cup began for us three years ago," Smith said.
"We've had plenty of time to plan for it, we've road tested a lot of what's happening here (Europe), it feels like we're coming home half the time, to the places we've been."
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