FazEwen McKenzie on French flaws and Mark Gasnier
November 20th 2008 21:46
France's weakness at the breakdown and their inability to use their Parisian home-ground advantage, could be the key for Australia to win their third Test victory in a row, according to former NSW coach Ewen McKenzie.
McKenzie, who moved to Paris four months ago to coach Stade Francais, says he had taken a close interest in the Wallabies tour and believed success was a formality at Stade de France on Saturday night.
"France got criticised a bit for playing a kicking game against Argentina, so they will feel some compulsion to use the ball a bit," McKenzie said.
"But the contest will be at the breakdown, where Australia are doing very well. The scrum will be important, but the winning of the game will be at the breakdown.
"I believe the success the Wallabies have had in recent times at the contest will work in their favour. The contest is a big part of French rugby and it is a big feature of the Robbie Deans Wallabies era as well. What will be interesting to see is the big one-on-one contests at the breakdown.
The 1991 World Cup-winning prop has been particularly pleased to see two of his Waratahs front-rowers - Benn Robinson and Al Baxter - hitting form following an accomplished scrummaging performance against England last weekend.
For me, it was a classic sporting situation," he said. "You had the downtrodden, maligned, badgered, who then were able to answer their critics on the public stage. It is a fairytale. And knowing the individuals very well, I am very proud of what they did.
"For someone like Al Baxter, who is Australia's most capped prop, he needs to be able to retire not having a stigma surrounding his career. And there is now a great scenario for him to go forward from."
McKenzie has strong Australian links at his French club, with its star recruit being former Kangaroo Mark Gasnier, who is relishing being away from the NRL "fishbowl".
"He is coming along quite quickly, but not without errors," McKenzie said. "But they are only errors of knowledge, and he doesn't generally make the same mistake twice, so his uptake is very good."
McKenzie said despite the difficult transition from NRL to French club football, Gasnier had immediately impressed with his ball and running skills, plus his understanding of space.
"He has a lot of good skills across the board," McKenzie said. "He tells me that he still feels lost at times. But that's to be understood. We'll work through that because he's a good student of the game.
"Twelve weeks ago, he was playing rugby league. In 12 weeks' time who knows? In 12 months' time who knows? He is contracted here for a while. He might stay. He might go. Don't know. He doesn't know. But he's certainly enjoying himself."
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