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Beware Wallabies France may be underdog, but bite is there
Posted: Thursday November 04, 1999 02:34 PM
With just three days to go to the fourth Rugby World Cup final, the question I want to ask is have we been hoodwinked by the French? I don't mean in any illegal way, as whatever methods you used to get to the Final, you still had to put points on the board, and, in that sense, France's passage to the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff has been perfectly legitimate. No, what I'm getting at is their carefully cultivated image as underdogs. What is an underdog exactly anyway? The French don't seem to fit the bill. As they prepare to match their footballers by winning the World Cup, Les Bleus are doing so as the most successful Northern Hemisphere nation in the 12-year history of World Cup competition. Third in 1995, quarterfinalists in 1991, and runner-up in 1987, the French record just doesn't seem to tally with the bungling, Inspector Clouseau image they've been touting for the past few days. Inconsistent though they've been, and last place in this year's Five Nations Championship is a testament to that, France's record against the top teams stacks up as well if not better than any of its Northern Hemisphere colleagues.
Indeed, against Saturday's opponents from Down Under its parity is there in black and white. Of the 28 matches France and Australia have played, each has won 13, with 2 matches drawn, and while the Wallabies have won the last four games, in the most crucial of the matches, the 1987 World Cup semifinal, it was the French who came out on top. So why create this image of a little team battling against the odds? Because, whatever noises you make, and the All Blacks made all the right sounds when discussing their respect for the French ahead of their semifinal, the fact remains that if you're told you're top dog enough times, at least part of you starts to believe it, and complacency slips in. "Evidently, the French team was not the team in the winter that all of rugby expected," French assistant coach, Pierre Villepreux, told me. "You know, three years ago we won the Grand Slam. Two years ago we won another Grand Slam. This year we finished last. But maybe it was the best way to be in the final today." You see my point? Flatter the devil within and who knows where it will take you. Wily characters those Frenchman. Wallabies beware. Terry Baddoo is a co-host of "World Sport," the international sports show that airs live on CNN/Sports Illustrated and CNN International.
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