By Tom Williams
November 24th 2009 @ 3:28am
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Lievremont wary of New Zealand threat
France coach Marc Lievremont warned that his side’s recent progress could “go up in smoke” with defeat in their year-ending match against New Zealand in Marseille next weekend.
France will go into the match on the back of a 43-5 thrashing of Samoa and a superb 20-13 victory over world champions South Africa, but Lievremont remains [...]
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![You can’t complain about a side that scores 11 tries, most of them from flowing interplay between backs and forwards. So full credit to the NSW Waratahs for finally getting their act together and playing the sort of rugby that would have made the Waratahs of 1928/29 proud of them.
The Waratahs of 80 years ago [...] Spiro Zavos: Have the Waratahs kicked their kicking habit?](http://www.theroar.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/waratahs-josh-holmes-th.jpg)
![On Monday Tennis Australia votes for its latest President. In the blue corner is the establishment doyen Geoff Pollard, now 20 years at the helm. And in the red corner, with the promise of change, is Paul McNamee, a former professional player and now a gifted and successful administrator.
If Tennis Australia wants to be re-invigorated [...] Spiro Zavos: It’s got to be Paul McNamee for Tennis Australia](http://www.theroar.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/paul-mcnamee-tennis-australia-th-128x150.jpg)
![Last Friday, the Melbourne Knights announced Mark Viduka would be the team’s number one ticket holder for the new Victorian Premier League season.
In an article on the Knights’ website, the former NSL club also revealed that former Socceroo Danny Tiatto would be joining the club for two games as a guest player.
Interesting news that mostly [...] Davidde Corran: Viduka shows the way to embrace football’s roots](http://www.theroar.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/ACT-government-shoots-viduka-th.jpg)
![A week or so ago India won their Test against England with the biggest second innings run chase ever on the sub-continent. Now, on Sunday, South Africa have scored 414 to win the first Test against Australia at Perth, the highest winning second innings run chase ever recorded in Australia.
Where have all the bowlers gone?
In [...] Spiro Zavos: World cricket: where have all the bowlers gone?](http://www.theroar.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2008/03/pakistan-cricket-th.jpg)
![“There are only three sports: bullfighting, motor racing, and mountaineering; all the rest are merely games,” said Ernest Hemingway. He obviously wasn’t adverse to blood and guts in his sporting tastes, and he certainly would have been a fan of MotoGP.
Yesterday the world’s greatest riders hit speeds in excess of 320km/h as they [...] Adrian Musolino: Motorbike racing is the only remaining gladiatorial sport](http://www.theroar.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/motorbike-racing-valentino-rossi-th.jpg)
![February has proved to be a fabulous month for cricket in all forms. We had a spine-tingling Test in Kolkata, followed by a nail-biting One-day International at Jaipur, and a landmark double century by the evergreen Sachin Tendulkar in the second ODI in Gwalior on Wednesday.
On 21 February, New Zealand defeated Australia by 2 runs [...] Kersi Meher-Homji: Tendulkar stakes his claim as best batsman in all forms](http://www.theroar.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/ipl-dog-sachin-tendulkar-th.jpg)
![Finally, some commonsense from Football Federation Australia, with Frank Lowy realising the game is up for the A-League and the Australian World Cup bid if drastic changes aren’t made – and made now.
At a function hosted by Melbourne Victory, Lowy acknowledged the future of the game wasn’t in being squirreled away on pay-TV and said [...] Jesse Fink: Why SBS must screen the A-League](http://www.theroar.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2008/02/newcastle-jets-grand-final-th.jpg)
![At 6.45am on Tuesday, my phone rang. It was Geoff Mould and he was as mad as hell about the demand by some senior Wallabies for $2,500 to play a trial match before the overseas tour.
Mould is a rugby guru.
He coached and selected the 1978 Australian Schoolboys side which is, arguably, the best rugby [...] Spiro Zavos: Wallaby disgrace! Money comes before the jersey](http://www.theroar.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/wallaby-disgrace-jersey-robbie-deans-th.jpg)
![We often assume media interest is a barometer of a sports’ popularity. If it’s not at the forefront of priorities for newspaper editors and newsroom producers, then it must not be important and entertaining enough to warrant sufficient media and public interest.
But that logic, in my mind, is flawed.
Rather, it’s the media that is dictating [...] Adrian Musolino: The media dictates the popularity of sports in Australia](http://www.theroar.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2008/10/lleyton-hewitt-th.jpg)
![When Graham Arnold met journalists for the first time as Central Coast Mariners coach this week, he was a cocksure picture of confidence and enthusiasm.
Some football followers might remember a time not so long ago when Arnold wasn’t so accommodating with the press.
But that time is past. Arnold this week began preparations to take over [...] Paddy Higgs: Graham Arnold deserves to be given a chance](http://www.theroar.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2008/07/graham-arnold-th.jpg)
![UEFA ban Eduardo for two matches for diving, Chelsea are blockaded by FIFA from making any signings until 2011 after illegally poaching Gael Kakuta, and now Manchester United will “appeal for ideas (from fans) as to how to curb (the vile chant directed at Arsene Wenger during the last round of Premier League action).”
Maybe it’s [...] Davidde Corran: Which football chants are acceptable?](http://www.theroar.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/which-chants-acceptable-th.jpg)
![In the wake of Paul Roos’s comments on the AFL’s decision to allow Gold Coast to keep their summer acquisitions confidential, Port Adelaide midfielder Travis Boak’s ‘supposed flirtation’ with Gold Coast highlights the inevitable results for out of contract players under such a policy.
Last week, newspaper reports linked Boak with a move to the AFL’s [...] Ben Somerford: AFL must be transparent on Gold Coast recruitment](http://www.theroar.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/AFL-clubs-think-outside-square-karmichael-hunt-broncos-th.jpg)




Wix said | November 24th 2009 @ 10:46am | Report comment
Allez la France ! Allez !
Darwin hammer said | November 24th 2009 @ 10:56am | Report comment
Remember the rainbow warrior
Wix said | November 24th 2009 @ 12:28pm | Report comment
Many years ago France brilliantly dealt with the rugby league threat. NZRU is currently pretending there is no threat . ARU, well, what can I say, other than ‘a basket case’
France, we forgive you for your minor rainbow coloured transgressions
Westy said | November 24th 2009 @ 12:40pm | Report comment
Wix and the death of an innocent man?
Jean said | November 24th 2009 @ 10:47pm | Report comment
batlant handball
Parisien said | November 25th 2009 @ 10:34am | Report comment
“Injuries to back-row forwards Imanol Harinordoquy and Louis Picamoles mean they both miss the cut, as does Toulouse wing Cedric Heymans.”
Merde! – thats a big blow. Ouedrago for Harinordoquy at 7, perhaps Chabal to start at 8 in place of Picamoles who’ll be sorely missed? or leave him on the bench as an impact player covering second and third row? Look forward to seeing the starting line-up. Presume that Medard and Clerc will both start. Will be a big game, and we’ll see if France can add another victory to their run of form. La Marseillaise is always revealing…and the cocks will crow.
Allez les Bleus!
Ziontrain said | November 25th 2009 @ 11:42am | Report comment
Blacks will beat these guys confortably. They are not that great