It's not every day that the serene vineyards of Cognac, France, get intermingled with the thrilling field of rugby. But that's exactly what happened what friend of REX, former All Black and Carters Brand Ambassador Richard Loe told REX host Dominic George has been his experience over in France for the Rugby World Cup in the last few weeks.
He had just returned from a brief visit North to Germany where he bumped into some German farmers who were planting wheat. Loe explained that after chatting with the man, it turns out the farming system in Germany is almost exactly the same as that in Aotearoa.
"I said 'well how much do you plant?' and he told me and it was damn near exactly what we do in New Zealand," he said.
"We had to convert it back from seeds per square meter to tonnes but it worked out damn near bang on … it just shows you that worldwide, everyone does things basically the same."
He and George agreed that the problems that are often assumed to be unique to Kiwi farmers are found all over the world and that the international agriculture industry is struggling just as much as New Zealand is.
"From what I gather, everyone is very tentative in what they do and I would suggest that a few of them might be doing a little bit less and trying to do it a bit better to get themselves through."
Switching gears to the upcoming Rugby World Cup Final between the All Blacks and the Springboks on Sunday morning, Loe highlighted the South African's strength at set pieces, particularly with the depth in their forward pack.
"If there's not a scrum or a line out set piece for them to go to, they're redundant until there is one."
Interestingly, Springboks head coach Jacques Nienaber selected a 7-1 split on his bench naming seven forwards and just a single back for the Final. Known as the 'bomb squad', Loe told George that limiting the opportunity of South Africa's reserve forwards could be the key to an All Blacks victory.
"They are good. they are good those boys," he said, lauding the Springboks' bench strength.
Other changes include veteran first-five Handre Pollard returning to the starting XV alongside halfback Faf De Klerk, the 25th time the pair have started together.
Predicting a tight game, Loe hopes the All Blacks can keep the ball in hand and use their strengths to get ahead early and put the scoring pressure on the current holders of the William Web Ellis Trophy.
"I think either side that gets the jump will be the side to go."
The game is set to kick off at 8 am NZT on Sunday, October 29th while the Bronze medal match will take place on Saturday, October 28th also at 8am NZT.
Listen to the full chat between Richard Loe and Dominic George above.
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