One of the joys of a July spent travelling through France, sometimes in front of 176 bike riders but often in pursuit, is that for almost four weeks everything else vanishes into the mist. You forget Wimbledon, don’t realise that the Ashes have people in a trance, or that the Open Championship has a runaway leader. One of the joys of coming home is catching up.
With the Rugby World Cup beginning in France next month, I especially wanted to find out about the All Blacks. After a bleak 2022, during which they lost a home series to Ireland and were beaten at home by Argentina, had they sorted themselves out? Had they ever! Not only did they win their three games in the truncated
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