Papé fired up for All Blacks clash
Thursday 22 September 2011, 11:04PM
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France forward Pascal Papé will use the controversy stirred up by sections of the New Zealand media over the team to face the All Blacks as extra motivation to secure victory on Saturday.
Les Bleus coach Marc Lièvremont was criticised over his team selection, particularly the decision to start regular scrum half Morgan Parra at fly half, for the massive Pool A match at Eden Park.
Several newspapers reported that Lièvremont's XV for the weekend encounter was second-rate and showed disrespect to their opponents.
“I think that the media do that to sell more papers," said 30-year-old second row Papé.
"Honestly, I am not going to waste my time with this. My role is to deliver a good performance on Saturday. But such things do rather motivate me.”
Former All Blacks flanker Josh Kronfeld agrees with Papé.
"The World Cup should be a celebration of the game," said the 40-year-old, who played in 10 RWC matches at the 1995 and 1999 tournaments.
"It shouldn't be about looking for negatives. The only affect it will have is to motivate the French even more."