How good was that All Blacks test?
I want to say I'm a little surprised by the number of commentators moaning about it and saying they're not impressed - but if I'm completely honest with you, I'm not that surprised.
Some of the criticism is fair. There were fumbles, there were discipline issues, the French scored first, they threatened throughout the game and it was a very close scoreline in the end.
But some of the criticism feels like it's still stuck in 2011, 2013 or 2015, back when the All Blacks were at their peak.
The norm has changed. The Northern Hemisphere has caught up since then. The French are not a side to be underestimated.
We do it every time. We say, "Oh, they're not sending a full-strength team." It doesn't matter. It doesn't matter whether they send an A team, a B team or a C team. They have so much depth in that competition now. They're good, whoever comes here.
So I think we probably underestimated who we were playing and thought there should have been - what was it Piney said? - 12 or 13 points on the French.
Plus, don't forget, this was the first test of the season and it is always a shaky start, especially lately, for the All Blacks. It's also the first test for a new coach and this was a team that had only been in camp together for, what, 10 days? Something like that.
When you consider all of that, it was actually impressive. It was a confident start. It was fast-paced. It was full of opportunity. There was a hunger for possession. I loved it.
I loved watching a team that wanted to win and seemed to have some idea of how it was going to do it.
Yes, of course, the critics make some fair points and you have to acknowledge them. But the All Blacks showed some spark and, most importantly, they won.
If it wasn't good, it was good enough, wasn't it?
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