All Blacks v France: Winners and losers as Dave Rennie’s selections are ‘justified’ while Damian Penaud suffers cruel setback
France winger Damian Penaud and an inster of All Blacks fly-half Ruben Love.
Following the All Blacks’ 34-32 victory over France, here are our winners and losers from the Nations Championship clash in Christchurch.
Winners
Matthieu Jalibert
Simply mesmeric. Matthieu Jalibert’s relationship with head coach Fabien Galthie was fragile not too long ago. However, he continues to make an incredibly strong case to be the main number 10 for Les Bleus with the Rugby World Cup on the horizon.
Sure, he wasn’t perfect today, but that happens with a mercurial talent like him. He wasn’t scared to chance his arm, kick in behind and ask questions of the All Blacks‘ defence. His wide running arc caused all kinds of havoc for the opposition, and he was duly rewarded with a try.
Just about everything France did well in Christchurch came through or was created by the 27-year-old who produced what can only be described as a statement performance.
Ruben Love
A nightmarish start to his first start at fly-half in the black jersey, but Ruben Love ended the game in the positive. His tackle was justified and perhaps he was even lucky not to see red. However, he quickly put that error behind him when he returned to the action and put in an assured performance, particularly in attack.
Will it see him move up the pecking order to become the side’s first-choice first-five? No, definitely not. However, he went toe-to-toe with one of the best fly-halves in the game at the moment and more than held his own. Dave Rennie is not short on options in Beauden Barrett, Love, and Damian McKenzie, whilst Richie Mo’unga will be added to the mix at some point too but the new head coach will know that the Hurricanes star is up to the challenge of the All Blacks’ number 10 jumper.
Furthermore, his combination with McKenzie was largely successful and allowed the All Blacks to utilise the latter’s pace in the wider channels.
Damian McKenzie
A fortnight is a long time in rugby, and McKenzie provided a perfect illustration of that, putting his absolute mare in the Super Rugby Pacific Final behind him and impressing from full-back. He effectively played fly-half in the opening 10 minutes of the match, and his long ball out to Will Jordan was perfect.
He benefited from the extra space afforded to him from full-back and was a real attacking threat in the wider channels. It was a much-needed confidence boost for the Chiefs playmaker.
Quinn Tupaea
One of the closest selection calls for Rennie and his staff this week would have been who partners Jordie Barrett in the midfield, and ultimately it was Quinn Tupaea who got the nod despite Billy Proctor benefiting from playing the entire Super Rugby season alongside Barrett.
Tupaea got 60 minutes against the French, and what a 60 minutes it was from the Chiefs man. He was incredible at the breakdown, physical when taking the ball to the line and simply outrageous with his distribution.
Proctor is bound to get an opportunity to play a bigger role for the All Blacks at some point this year, but on today’s evidence, Tupaea is the main man to partner Barrett.
Cam Roigard and Will Jordan
Two tries apiece for Cam Roigard and Jordan, who were central to the All Blacks’ victory. The former was quite simply the best player on the park and was rightly named the man of the match. The Hurricanes number nine left Maxime Lucu for dead with his dummy and run to the line, while his second try was classic halfback play, running a sharp support line.
As for Jordan, he came within striking distance of Doug Howlett’s record as the All Blacks’ all-time leading try scorer as he finished the 80 minutes just two five-pointers shy of the tally. The 28-year-old has had a tough time with injuries this season but barely missed a beat in his first game back despite concerns that this fixture came a week early for him.
Rennie still has some work to do to get the All Blacks firing on all cylinders, but he will be comfortable with the knowledge that Jordan and Roigard are two players that can perform at a world-class level and are comfortably among the best in their positions in the game.
The head coach will get stick for Jordan playing on the wing but it’s hard to argue his influence and impact when he scores tries for fun and is so much safer under the high ball than so many others in New Zealand.
Luke Jacobson
A torrid start, conceding two early penalties as it looked as if fans’ outcry around his selection would be proven right. However, Luke Jacobson recovered from those early setbacks to be one of the most effective forwards for the men in black throughout the match.
The Chiefs leader was sublime with ball in hand; his offload for Roigard’s try was glorious, and he was relentless on defence and at the breakdown. His work rate on both sides of the ball freed up Ardie Savea and Peter Lakai to play far more loosely as he completely justified Rennie’s decision to hand him the iconic number seven jumper.
Christchurch faithful
It’s been 15 long years since the All Blacks played a Test match in the rugby-mad city of Christchurch, but the development of the One New Zealand Stadium was always going to bring international rugby back. A packed-out stadium was treated to a thrilling encounter, a nail-biter as international rugby returned to a place it should have never left.
Dave Rennie
You can never truly and accurately judge a boxer on their first round but the signs are there that the All Blacks are in better hands under the wily Rennie than they were under Scott Robertson.
In their first game under Rennie, there was a stark improvement in the way the All Blacks attacked, with the team delivering on the coach’s promise to be optimistic with ball in hand. The breakdown was more accurate, and the side benefited from having dual playmakers.
On the whole, the bold selection calls were accurate too, with Jacobson impressing, Love thrived after his yellow card, while deploying Jordan on the wing reaped rewards. When Robertson oversaw the last Tests against France 12 months ago, it was a significantly less powerful team that they faced than the one that featured today, but the performance under Rennie was certainly more convincing.
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Fabien Brau-Boirie
France are certainly not short on midfield options with Fabien Brau-Boirie putting in an outstanding shift against the excellent All Blacks’ pairing of Barrett and Tupaea. The 20-year-old shone in his two appearances for Les Bleus in the Six Nations, but in Christchurch he really announced himself with a sparkling display. He was unfortunate that his try got chalked off, but that should not take away from the fact that he traded blow-for-blow with two of the best New Zealand has to offer.
Galthie has regularly rewarded for backing youngsters to handle the demands of Test rugby, and Brau-Boirie is just another in a long list of players who have rewarded him for doing so.
Losers
Damian Penaud
Of course he scored on his return to international rugby and did so in rapid fashion, taking less than two minutes to become the first try scorer in the Nations Championship. Damian Penaud is the kind of talent that very few countries would have the luxury of overlooking, but Galthie did just that for the 2026 Six Nations.
Bordeaux’s early exit from the Top 14 paved the way for his return, but while he was excellent in the first half, his momentum was stalled when he sustained a calf injury, which meant he was unable to return in the second stanza.
The France boss was unsure of just how severe the injury was, but for the winger’s sake, hopefully it is nothing serious. Either way, it was a cruel setback for the speedster.
Romain Ntamack
Not available due to his involvement in the Top 14 Final, Romain Ntamack again had to watch on as Jalibert shone in the number 10 jumper. The Toulouse star has struggled to be regularly available for the French national team and his chances of starting important Tests going forward have been dealt yet another blow.
While it’s likely that Galthie sees Ntamack as his ideal 10, a player’s availability is their best attribute and that’s where he is falling short at the moment.
Demba Bamba
Given the opportunity to impress, Demba Bamba failed epically. At the international level, a prop simply has to be able to scrummage legally, and he was unable to do so against the All Blacks.
He conceded four penalties, missed two tackles and offered very little around the park. His days as an international-level prop are limited if he continues to perform like that.
Peter Lakai
Rounded off a fantastic try but it was hardly the kind of performance that we came accustomed to last year from Lakai. In fact, it was perhaps one of his most underwhelming shifts all year as he frankly went missing for large chunks of the game, with Wallace Sititi being a major improvement once he came on.
Pierre Bochaton
His opportunity to stamp his mark on the team was short-lived as he lasted just 33 minutes before being forced off through injury. In his absence, Mickaël Guillard shone, as he has whenever given the chance by France.
Doug Howlett
Howlett has topped the All Blacks all-time try-scoring list since his retirement in 2007, and it looks as if it will finally be broken before its 20th anniversary.
Jordan has now closed the gap to just two tries in his first appearance in the black jersey this year and one wouldn’t bet against him surpassing the former outside back with so many games left to play this year.