©Steve Haag
France 27-13 New Zealand, Rugby World Cup Pool A, Stade de France
Hosts France started the Rugby World Cup campaign with a 27-13 victory over three-time champions New Zealand in the Pool A opening game of the tournament at Stade de France in Paris.
This was also the first defeat for the All Blacks in World Cup Pool games having won 31 of the previous matches. The visitors also saw a major setback with Sam Cane being a late withdrawal from the game due to an unspecified injury with Ardie Savea taking over the captaincy and Tupou Vaa’i coming into the starting line up.
Evenly Poised First Half
The All Blacks dominated the opening exchanges as they scored the first try of the tournament under two minutes with Beauden Barrett starting at fullback set up Mark Telea with a perfect crossfield kick over the line but the conversion from Richie Mo’unga drifted wide making it 0-5.
Thomas Ramos with two penalties in the opening quarter of the game gave the Les Bleus a 6-5 lead but they suffered a blow with Julien Marchand leaving the field injured in the 13th minute. With Mo’unga and Ramos trading penalties the scoreline became 9-8 as the break was approaching. France could have extended their lead further but Ramos’ three-pointer missed the target as the teams were separated by just one point leading into the second half.
Telea scores again but France seize control
New Zealand started the second half in the same fashion as the first with this time a floating pass from Mo’unga allowed Telea to score his second try and shortly Damian Penaud was denied a try following a desperate tackle from the New Zealand fly-half as the score remained at 9-13 keeping the crowd tensed.
Turning point!
Damian Penaud leapt across the line to take the lead over New Zealand @FranceRugby | #RWC2023 | #FRAvNZL pic.twitter.com/udMi5H9Nyt
— Rugby World Cup (@rugbyworldcup) September 8, 2023
Nevertheless, Penaud could not be kept away from the game as he grabbed a pass from Matthieu Jalibert to complete his 30th Test try with Ramos following with the conversion to put the home side into a 16-13 lead. New Zealand were down to 14 players temporarily with Will Jordan sin-binned for a dangerous tackle on Ramos, who added two more three pointers to extend France’s lead to 22-13.
Fabien Galthié’s men ensured there was no turnback as Melvyn Jaminet seized on a chip from Maxime Lucu to touchdown for their second try as they kicked-off the tournament with a 14-point victory.
Relentless @FranceRugby strike late on ??
Melvyn Jaminet scores in front of the ecstatic home fans #RWC2023 | #FRAvNZL pic.twitter.com/ux8YahhvYz
— Rugby World Cup (@rugbyworldcup) September 8, 2023
What’s Next
France will face Uruguay in their second game of the group in Lille on 14th September while New Zealand will lock horns with Namibia in their next clash on Friday.
Reactions:
New Zealand captain Ardie Savea and Ian Foster accepted that they let the game slip in the second half.
“Playing France here in the opening game was pretty special but they were just a bit too good,” said Foster.
“I thought they squeezed us in that second half and we struggled to really get a lot of momentum. We’ve got to find another pathway now.”
“It’s tough when you lose your skip but I thought the boys that came in filled the job right,” said Savea, who led the team in Cane’s absence.
“In that last 20 [minutes] our discipline let us down and we weren’t clinical enough. We’ve got to regroup and keep going forward.”
Team line up:
France: Ramos; Penaud, Fickou, Moefana, Villière; Jalibert, Dupont (capt.); Wardi, Marchand, Atonio, Woki, Flament, Cros, Ollivon, Alldritt.
Reserves: Mauvaka, Gros, Aldegheri, Taofifenua, Boudehent, Lucu, Vincent, Jaminet.
New Zealand: Barrett; Jordan, Ioane, Lienert-Brown, Telea; Mo’unga, Smith; de Groot, Taylor, Laulala, Whitelock, Barrett, Vaa’i, Papali’i, Savea (capt.).
Reserves: Taukei’aho, Tuungafasi, Newell, Retallick, Jacobson, Christie, Havili, Fainga’anuku.
