Three brothers, Beauden Barrett, Scott Barrett and Jordie Barrett will start for the All Blacks tonight. Photo File
All Blacks star Zinzan Brooke reckoned France was his favourite opposition.
Not the trans-Tasman grudge match against Aussie, nor the history-steeped clash against the Springboks, but Le Tricolour.
I agree wholeheartedly, for so many reasons.
So what makes France so special?
Well, the World Cup history between the two for one thing; they've been dragon slayers for some time.
But what really intrigues me is they're the only team for whom form counts for nothing. They're mercurial (and all that adjective's synonyms) in the extreme.
That is, changeable, capricious, erratic, fickle, fitful, fluid, inconstant, irregular, mobile, protean, shifting, uncertain, unpredictable, unreliable, unsettled, unstable, unsteady, wavering, vacillating, variable, versatile, volatile, wavering - in essence, very French.
To boot, their national anthem, La Marseillaise, is the most sonorous of all the anthems. Even the most ardent ABs' fan can't help but sing along.
It's also the only anthem violent enough to rival the haka. Which isn't surprising, given it was composed in one night during the French Revolution, April 24, 1792.
"[Translated] Do you hear in the countryside, the roar of those savage soldiers? They come ... to cut the throats of our sons. To arms, citizens! Form your battalions, let us march! That their impure blood should water our fields."
That's some wonderful bloody-brotherhood stuff.
And if that doesn't whet your footy appetite, remember that the All Blacks starting lineup tonight also boasts some impressive brotherhood - one-third of the team, in fact, are brothers.
That is, two Whitelocks, Sam and Luke, together with Barrett siblings Scott, Beauden and Jordie.
CNN, which rarely covers rugby, produced a TV story yesterday on the Barrett phenomenon, and headlined it with the sublime: "Three Barretts, Three Brothers, Three All Blacks."
Coach Steve Hansen was quoted yesterday on the trio: "They're their own men: Beauden and Jordie are pretty similar to look at, apart from one being a little bit taller, and Scooter [Scott] is more stoic. The other two are backs, so obviously they're a bit flashier".
Love France or loathe them, the All Blacks' family dynamic is reason enough to get amped about tonight's fixture at Eden Park.
Racing in Hastings was shut down suddenly during the 2024 Spring Carnival.