All Blacks v France: Five takeaways as Les Bleus test ‘rusty’ hosts for the full 80 minutes in closely fought battle
France captain and centre Gael Fickou (inset) and All Blacks flyer Will Jordan in action during the Test in Dunedin.
Following the All Blacks’ 31-27 win over France in their mid-year international at the Forsyth Barr Stadium in Dunedin on Saturday, Planet Rugby picks out five takeaways from the thrilling action.
The top line
Although the All Blacks were victorious, they had to dig deep for this result as the visitors were competitive for long periods and, as the scoreline suggests, could easily have won this Test.
Much was said and written in the build-up to this game of Les Bleus head coach Fabien Galthie’s decision to bring an understrength team to New Zealand but they can hold their heads high as they asked plenty of questions of the All Blacks.
And it was the visitors who held a slight edge during the early stages. After Joris Segonds gave France the lead courtesy of a well-taken penalty, they extended their lead when Mickael Guillard crossed for the opening try which was converted by Nolann Le Garrec.
The home side did not panic though and struck back with five-pointers from Will Jordan and Tupou Vaa’i, which were both converted by Beauden Barrett, before Le Garrec narrowed the game to a point when he added a penalty in the 33rd minute.
New Zealand would finish the half stronger though when Jordie Barrett also dotted down and the conversion from his brother, Beauden, meant the home side held a 21-13 lead at half-time.
France drew first blood after the interval when Gabin Villiere crossed for a try and Le Garrec’s conversion meant they were trailing by one point again.
However, Jordan got over for his second five-pointer and fly-half Barrett’s conversion extended the All Blacks’ lead again but a Cameron Wok in the 50th minute, which was also converted by Le Garrec, meant New Zealand were leading 28-27.
The final half-hour was a tense affair as both sides went in search of the victory and the All Blacks eventually achieved that when fly-half Barrett slotted a penalty in the 74th minute.
Rusty overall performance from the All Blacks
Although Les Bleus deserve plenty of credit for coming to the fore with an outstanding overall performance, this was the All Blacks’ first Test of the season and it showed that they are still far from the finished article.
There were strong performances from the likes of flankers Ardie Savea and Tupou Vaa’i in the forward exchanges as they took the fight to their opponents throughout the game.
Amongst the backs, Will Jordan was the shining light but more on him later, while the likes of the Barrett brothers – Beauden and Jordie – Cam Roigard and Damian McKenzie also delivered solid performances.
There were two debutants in the All Blacks starting line-up and while Fabian Holland gave a good account of himself and was on the field for the entire match, Christian Lio-Willie seemed to struggle with the pace and intensity of this match.
Lio-Willie was replaced by another newbie in Du’Plessis Kirifi early in the second half and he was soon in the thick of the action, putting his body on the line in defence and at the breakdowns.
Kirifi’s introduction meant Savea shifted to number eight and they worked well in tandem when France were chasing the game.
A worrying trend in the All Blacks game in 2024 was their inability to score points in the final quarter of several of their matches and although they did manage to do that in this game, it was only a late penalty from Beauden Barrett which spared their blushes against this understrength France side.
In the end, they had to dig deep for this win, especially in the second half – which France won 14-10 – and there’s plenty of homework for head coach Scott Robertson ahead of the second Test in Wellington next week.
Will Jordan’s fine form continues
After starting at full-back, the Crusaders star was shifted to the right wing as early as the opening minute with Damian McKenzie coming on as a replacement for the injured Sevu Reece.
Despite that positional switch so early on, Jordan was still hugely influential in this game as he proved a real handful with ball in hand and he tested France’s defence for the full 80 minutes.
Jordan’s attacking play was superb throughout as he asked plenty of questions of the visitors’ defence which resulted in him finishing with outstanding attacking statistics.
In the end, the 27-year-old finished with 14 runs made, 120 metres gained, a brace of tries – as well as a try assist – and it could easily have been a hat-trick but one of his five-pointers was disallowed in the second half.
Those two tries scored means Jordan’s prolific try-scoring continues as he has now crossed the whitewash on 40 occasions at Test level in just 42 Tests and he is fast approaching Doug Howlett’s All Blacks record of 49 Test tries.
France’s senior players lead the way
Although this was a Les Bleus team who were without several of their first-choice players, the visitors can hold their heads high as they pushed the All Blacks all the way, and the senior players in this side deserve plenty of credit for that effort.
Leading the way was the side’s skipper Gael Fickou who tested the All Blacks’ defence with some fine attacking runs which saw him creating try-scoring opportunities for his team-mates while he also did brilliantly on defence where he put his body on the line and marshalled his troops well.
Not far behind amongst the backs was Le Garrec, who varied his play well on attack as he provided a slick service to his outside backs and was solid off the kicking tee where he succeeded with three conversions and a well-taken penalty.
Meanwhile, Toulon speedster Villiere kept New Zealand’s defenders busy throughout and was rewarded with a well-taken try early in the second half
Up front, veteran front-row Rabah Slimani stood up well in the scrums during a 48-minute stint while Mickael Guillard caught the eye with a fine all-round display and replacement utility forward Cameron Woki also showed his class as he crossed for a five-pointer shortly after entering the fray.
Joris Segonds’ tactical kicking catches the eye
As mentioned earlier, the France team which took to the field in this encounter was very inexperienced and Galthie handed debuts to eight players in his matchday squad of which five were in the starting line-up.
One of those debutants was Bayonne fly-half Joris Segonds, who announced himself on the international stage with a monster penalty from 50 metres out which gave his side the lead in the seventh minute.
Although Le Garrec took over the goal-kicking duties after that, Segonds impressed with his tactical kicking which asked questions of the All Blacks and gave his side good momentum.
The 28-year-old put his side on the front foot with well-weighted cross-field kicks and kept the home side’s back three busy with accurate up-and-unders.
Segonds was eventually replaced by Antoine Hastoy in the 64th minute but he can be happy with his kicking out of hand which was of a good standard during his time on the field.
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