2 Dec 2008

6:30 sports heads

9:31 am on 2 December 2008

The All Blacks have been drawn with France, Tonga and qualifiers from the Americas and Asia for the 2011 Rugby World Cup.

The French have become somewhat of a bogey team for New Zealand having knocked them out of contention in both the 1999 and 2007 tournaments.

The All Blacks coach Graham Henry says being drawn with France will create a lot of interest and it is one of those things you can't avoid.

The 4 semi-finalists from last year's tournament came from the two toughest pools.

If the All Blacks win their pool, they're likely to meet England or Argentina in the quarter-finals.... South Africa in the semi-finals and then maybe Australia or England in the final.

The New Zealand cricket captain Daniel Vettori has taken aim at his top six batsmen after they self-destructed in the second test against Australia in Adelaide.

On a perfect batting strip New Zealand could muster only 270 and 203 to lose by an innings and 62 runs in 4 days.

Vettori says the 2-nil series defeat was a lesson for his batsmen in how to build an innings... he says they have plenty of talent and not enough application.

The 8th ranked Black Caps now return home to face the 7th ranked West Indies.