All Blacks v France: The Worry-O-Meter gathers pace ahead of opening Rugby World Cup game

Calm down, calm down: All Blacks coach Ian Foster does his best to ease concerns at his team's welcome ceremony in France. Photo / Photosport

It’s finally here. We are just days away from kick-off in the 10th edition of the Rugby World Cup when the eyes of the rugby universe will be on the fields of France. Aside from a few brain-exploding hiccups and a pantsing in a “friendly” against the Boks, Ian Foster’s All Blacks have had a dream run into the tournament and put the pundits on notice that they are maybe – just quietly – making themselves the team to beat.

But, as Tim Brightwell finds, there’s plenty to worry about for the pessimistic rugby fan.

The front row: Loss of Lomax looms large

Losing Tyrell Lomax is massive – the in-form prop of this World Cup cycle was felled by a leg gash that cut to the muscle. It’s forced the All Blacks to stitch together a front row comprising only one first-choice prop (Ethan de Groot) and a rag-tag mob of veterans (Nepo Laulala and Ofa Tu’ungafasi), a debutant (Tamaiti Williams) and a lightly tested rookie who is coming off a significant injury (Fletcher Newell).

With no timeline for Lomax’s return, he’ll be pushed to get game time before the quarters leaving our set piece underdone when we come face to face with either South Africa or Ireland.

Worry-O-Meter: “It’s nothing major really, but the Customs officer wonders if you’d just step into this small room for a moment.” 5/10

Locks: Father time catches up

Scott Barrett is a nailed-on starter for as long as he can avoid suspensions. But the identity of his locking partner is in doubt: Brodie Retallick is still hobbled by a knee injury and Sam Whitelock is going into his fourth World Cup campaign; both have carried injuries throughout the year, restricting time on the field. Whitelock is also one of those guys who performed poorly when going backward against England in 2019 and was notably silent in the Twickenham debacle a fortnight ago.

With four matches over three weeks and then knock-out games, injury is a risk to this once-dynamic duo – which would leave us even more shorthanded.

Worry-O-Meter: “Were we in Amsterdam on this trip? No, that was last trip, right? Right?...” 6/10

The weather

The AC in Paris is on the fritz. The All Blacks kick-off Friday night in the French capital, all week it’s been up to 35C during the day, but game night will cool down to 28C for the 9.15pm (local time) start. Matches in the South of France are forecast to be played in 34C. Isn’t this a winter sport?

Worry-O-Meter: “You seem to be sweating a lot for someone who says they are merely a tourist in a routine Customs check.” 7/10

Loose forwards: Hamstrung

The Frizzellnaisance is on ice, with the finding of the international season, Shannon Frizell, still out with a hamstring injury. Initially diagnosed as just a grade 1 or grade 2 tweak, we’ve since heard a lot of silence from the coaching staff. Hamstrings are difficult things to bounce back from, just ask David Havili and Caleb Clarke. The worst part of a hamstring injury? It’s getting back up to speed and getting the explosive power from a standing start that you need to combat the forward packs we’ll see in the knock-out rounds.

The All Blacks will be relying on a pick-and-mix of Dalton Papili’i and Luke Jacobsen at No 6 to get us through until Frizzell returns. Papali’i at No 6? Players out of position at World Cups? We’ve been here before.

Worry-O-Meter: The Customs officer makes an exaggerated effort of pulling on a rubber glove. 8/10

Outside backs: We’re all going on a summer holiday

Our back three have shown moments of brilliance this season. Beauden Barrett has wound back the clock, reminding us why he bagged the World Player of the Year title in 2016 and 2017. Will Jordan scores tries and Mark Telea looks the pick of an electric bunch. But we’ve seen the backs go missing when they haven’t been able to get good go-forward ball from the forwards.

The Boks found a way to shut the All Blacks down at Twickenham and showed the rest of the rugby universe a blueprint of how to blunt the attacking edge. As the ball starts to get restricted, will the backline regress to the bad old days of playing closer, trying to force short, quick balls. Les intercept, monsieur? S’il vous plait!

Worry-O-Meter: “Is this your small plastic bag?” 9/10

Discipline: They’re out to get us

Scott Barrett’s red card at Twickenham highlighted the fact the All Blacks are up against the new guard of international referees: A mob out to get revenge for all the times Richie McCaw’s prose convinced their predecessors of the merits of his legal arguments. The pedants of the Northern Hemisphere will be looking to ping the All Blacks every chance they get, highlighting a difference in officiating between the hemispheres. Yellow cards will flow like this chardonnay.

Worry-O-Meter: “Strange that you say it’s not your small plastic bag, because it seems to have your fingerprints all over it.” 10/10