The All Black hardman that 'fears' the French
INTERVIEW: Former New Zealand captain Wayne ‘Buck’ Shelford, often dubbed ‘the hardest man to play the game’, knows better than most the highs and lows of playing Les Bleus.
In 1986 during a brutal Test in Nantes – a rare defeat for the All Blacks – he lost three teeth and tore his scrotum.
A year later he was instrumental in delivering the first World Cup with a 29-9 win over France in the Final.
And he has also witnessed some memorable French performances which have emerged less from the formbook and more from pure collective inspiration.
“The French are able to turn it on at anytime, they can just counter-attack from everywhere,” Shelford told AFP.
“Sometimes they know what they are doing. And when they don’t, they just ad lib and go for it.
“They can be a dangerous side. You give them a few holes and they can cut you to pieces.”
New Zealand kick off this year’s World Cup against hosts France in Paris on Friday with both teams among the favourites to win the title.
Shelford anticipates a battle royal of attacking rugby.
“There’s nothing better for the French to have one of their nemesis teams in the big, big tournaments,” he added.
“On a good day, they are the best team in the world.
“For us [New Zealand], it’s neither here nor there. You’ve got to win every game if you want to get to the final.”
New Zealand beat France in that inaugural World Cup final in 1987 with Shelford leading the All Blacks pack in an emphatic victory.
Yet the All Blacks had a history of coming unstuck against the French at following World Cups.
Even with rugby giant Jonah Lomu in the side, New Zealand surrendered a 14-point lead at Twickenham in the semi-finals of the 1999 tournament as France produced one of the most exhilarating halves of rugby in the history of the tournament, sealing a famous 43-31 victory.
Lightning struck twice in the quarter-finals eight years later when Richie McCaw’s All Blacks gave up a 13-3 lead to lose 20-18 in Cardiff.
The curse was broken on home soil in the tense 2011 final when hosts New Zealand edged France 8-7 in Auckland to lift the World Cup for the first time since 1987.
The All Blacks then romped to a nine-try win over the French on their most recent World Cup meeting in the 2015 quarter-finals.
Shelford says this time around, the hosts are just as dangerous to New Zealand’s hopes of winning a fourth World Cup title.
“Today, they are a bit more circumspect, but they have got a way of playing the game that if you let them in, they’ll just hammer through holes,” he added.
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‘Battle of Nantes’
Now 65, the former No.8 captained the All Blacks during a golden era when they went unbeaten from 1987 until 1990.
Known for being an uncompromising enforcer at the back of the scrum, Shelford brought an edge to the All Blacks.
Not just during the game where he was a power in the pack; Shelford, a proud Maori, also took over the haka and made sure it evolved from a weak-kneed party piece to a blood-curdling battle cry.
However, he describes ‘The Battle of Nantes’, that 3-16 loss to France in 1986, as “probably the most brutal game I ever played”.
“I’ve never seen it again on TV and I don’t want to,” he said.
Determined to avenge a 7-19 loss in the first Test in Toulouse a week earlier, the French threw themselves at every black shirt that crossed their path.
“Back in those days, they didn’t have all the cameras they do now, with regards to foul play and stuff like that,” he said.
“Half of that French team would probably have been sin-binned or sent off under the current laws,” he added with a chuckle.0
“We lost that Test and went home with our tail between our legs.”
In an era when there were no head assessments for concussion, Shelford said he was briefly knocked out by a clash of heads with a French prop, but still finished the game.
Early in the second half, the All Blacks hardman suffered a particularly painful injury.
“I was over [hooker] Daniel Dubroca in a ruck and he kicked me in the nuts, caught me with his studs. It ripped open my scrotum.”
Shelford played on, only receiving stitches for the injury in the All Blacks changing room after the final whistle.
Nearly 40 years later, he harbours no ill feelings towards Dubroca.
“I’ve never met him, but you never know. I might run into him one day and just laugh and smile about it.”
