The All Blacks have beaten the French at Eden Park 52-11 to take a 1-0 lead in the three-match series in a game that really was sadly too strongly impacted by a few key refereeing decisions.
Ahead of the game there was lots of talk about how the French would be able to compete with so many injuries to key players but they really stood up in the first half of the match.
They took their opportunities with both boot and in hand including a sneaky try when Remy Grosso was able to intercept a pass from Ben Smith and run in unopposed from 20 metres out.
The men in blue really did a good job of disrupting the All Blacks rhythm and their defence was not easy to break down.
This combination meant that they got out to an early lead and held that lead into half time.
The All Blacks looked like a team that was patient to a certain degree but that was also beginning to get a bit frustrated at the lack of crispness and penetration in their attack.
There were a few too many errors by the home side and that would have annoyed Steve Hansen. He would have been happy though with the way that the three Barrett brothers contributed to the All Blacks only try of the first half – Scott Barrett made a nice burst through a couple of tacklers and was able to offload to Jordie who sprinted away.
The ball was quickly recycled and Beauden made a lovely sweeping move around the back of the ruck to take the final pass and score in the corner.
It was a reminder of how quickly the All Blacks can pounce but the fact that they only did this once in the first half highlights how strong the Blues had been in defence.
They really made it hard for the home side to get any off loads out of the tackle and so made it hard for the Kiwis to get in behind the defence.
The game was perfectly poised for the second half. The All Blacks started to put the French under real pressure in the first ten minutes and the visitors had to defend for a long period of time.
But defend they did and the score remained 8-11 for the French up until the 52nd minute. Unfortunately, this is where things changed.
The ref had been doing a very good job up until this point – he’d controlled the sides well and had already penalised Aaron Smith for one suggestion too many.
But in the 51st minute he made a rash decision to sin bin Paul Gabrillagues for a high tackle without asking for some TMO support.
Refs are often criticised for referring too many decisions to the TMO but in this instance it was critical that the technology available was used.
Instead the ref made an immediate decision and while the French lock jogged off the replays were showing that the tackle really only deserved a penalty at most.
The All Blacks hadn’t been able to get their rhythm going against 15 men but against 14 men they moved up through the gears quickly and were flying.
During the 10 minutes sin bin they scored twice and that broke the French hearts. After that they ran in another four tries which blew the score out.
Many of these were very nice tries including some great counter-attacking examples that saw players like Ben Smith, Ryan Crotty, Damian McKenzie and Ngani Laumape show off their pace and ability to hold off defenders in close quarters.
The All Blacks confidence was up and they did a very good job of keeping the ball and making the French defend a huge amount in the final 30 minutes.
When the French did have the ball they tried hard but lacked any real creativity and while players like Mathieu Bastareaud and Teddy Thomas are real weapons, they needed some space and support to pose a real threat.
The French will be frustrated not just at their yellow card but at the fact that when Sam Cane put in his own high tackle in the second half the referee still didn’t check the replays and this time only gave a penalty to the visitors.
If the French deserved a yellow card then the All Blacks definitely did and this inconsistency is very annoying.
Despite the result the French can look to game two with some hope. For 50 minutes they were going toe to toe with the best in the world.
Thomas looked dangerous at times and his pace is just incredible – if they can get him some more ball in space in game two then he will scare any defender.
The French will need their No.9 and No.10 to do a better job though. They weren’t bad in this game and it’s always hard when you don’t have the ball or are going backwards, but the French side need their halves to control the game and get their forwards running onto the ball.
Parra’s inability to kick off his wrong foot is an issue and caused some trouble for the French when they tried to clear from their own 22.
The clearances were leading to All Black line outs on the 22 and just heaped more and more pressure on the visitors. They need a bigger boot to help them get out of defence.
For the home side there were some good performances. Codie Taylor played well and seemed to be involved in both scoring and assisting in tries in the second half.
Liam Squire had a quiet first half but was impressive in the second, stealing lineouts and running hard with the ball.
Super subs McKenzie and Ngani Laumape impressed with their pace and ability to run nice lines (although McKenzie really should have passed as he looked to score his second try of the night!) and Hansen will be happy that his bench was able to have a real impact on the game.
If you just saw the scoreline you would assume that this was a very one-sided game and that the whole series is already decided.
But the devil is in the detail and the French need to remind themselves of the first 50 minutes as they prepare for Game two next weekend.
Yes, the All Blacks are strong favourites but the French showed that they can ruffle a few Kiwi feathers.
Final score
New Zealand 52
France 11
Paulo
Roar Rookie
Good link, thanks Jacko.
Rugby Tragic
Roar Rookie
P2R2 -- also Crotty taking the wrong option by passing outside while Aaron Smith was flying inside him for a free and clear unobstructed run to the line...
Dsat24
Guest
Reiko had it in one arm! We could have seen history repeating there. Blondys face is etched into AB folklore.
Shane D
Roar Rookie
Murray didn’t look right after being cut in half by Koroibete. Noticed that he had his neck checked not long after. Bit of whiplash maybe?
cuw
Guest
i wrote my comment purely on the TV game - did not watch after as there was so much to watch ( including cricket)/ it seems that Tunga is the one who caused the injury. Cane made head contact so minimum yellow in the match .... french have a siege mentality - during not Heineken cup matches , there were many complaints that the UK refs were against french clubs. those thought gained a lot of fuel - when some silly and wrong decisions were made by some of the best :P
cuw
Guest
Codie Taylor will have more bragging rights - for some reason Teddy used kid-gloves :P
Hoofhearted
Guest
I find it bemusing, but then to be fair the journo of this article is not the only one to single out. The article, in general, is overly critical of the All Blacks performance, which for a first hit-up, was very solid, and as a team with continue to improve. But you have to wonder.. If it had been Australia beating France by that margin, in similar circumstances the article would probably read very differently
Jacko
Guest
Spot on Moa....Unfortunately on this site the more comments an article gets the more successful it is judged to be...So any article running down the Kiwis or their teams gets defended then more arguements follow...The site is starting to lose credibility when rugby is becomming impossible to comment on without massive insults being interpreted from every comment....The ROAR sets it up by allowing these headlines and 1 line comments by the writer...then they moderate some from saying anything yet allow others to rave about mental health etc...They bring it on...encourage the rage...then get all concerned when the rage actually happens...getting sadder by the week
Jacko
Guest
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/sport/news/article.cfm?c_id=4&objectid=12068245 Just to balance things
P2R2
Roar Rookie
no way he nearly stuffed the try....yes Thomas was chasing hard, but Reiko was by then de-accelerating ... knew he would make the line...good attempt by Thomas though in hitting the ball, but look at how Reiko was holding the ball...was never going to get dislodged...good try...the one that should have been a try was DMAC not passing the ball back infield to an unmarked player (Smith)...stuffed that one up...
Rugby Tragic
Roar Rookie
Neutral, I agree that many Kiwis, in terms of rugby have become a little arrogant as a result of the ongoing success. I also think that this success has bought on both admirers and detractors. It would be rare for me to comment on referees as, 1) they adjudicate the game, and 2) history will prove it makes no difference to the result ... 3) discussions later, in particular by fans, I feel are often are an attempt to mitigate a loss. A victory is always sweeter when the playing field is level of course but tbh, I never felt as though the AB's were ever going to lose on Saturday (that is my arrogance) after watching the 1st 25-30 mins play out. What I did see was the AB's growing dominance after they shaked the rust out, and thought it was a matter of time. The effort the French put into their defence, just prior HT and just after was admirable but it had to take its toll. I know that past games do not decide the present game (or future results) but I have really seen so many AB games in which they seem to have flicked a switched and in the skip of a heartbeat they accumulate points so quickly. The present regime is no longer the fragile squad that was around in 2007, lessons have been learnt. A little off topic, by detractors, there are often suggestions that the biase is invariably always against the AB's or that they cheat. If that is the case the criticism should be against officials not the players. If McCaw was playing today and he gave away as many penalties as Pocock did, he would have been labeled quite vigorously a cheat, but I think Hansen's statement after the game rings true where he stated ... "We've been called cheats for 100 years, and if you keep winning people have got to find reasons ... You've just got to roll with that stuff and not take too much notice of it."
moa
Guest
"a game that really was sadly too strongly impacted by a few key refereeing decisions." A few? Impacted too strongly by a few key...decisions? Are you implying the Ref should have evened things up by carding Cane? For the record--I didn't think the french tackle even warranted a penalty.Looked perfectly legal to me and should have been a scrum restart and Ref's apology. I also think Cane should have gone.Under the letter of the law he struck the face,Period. But that headline sentence is overdoing it in my book.
Rugby Tragic
Roar Rookie
Agree with that cuw .. very perplexing in selecting Shields as a lock replacement.
taylorman
Roar Guru
Ioane did the right thing though. Ducking and weaving so the guy couldnt get anything on him. A bit late in the game and last thing you want to do is pin your ears back and get ankle tapped without seeing it. Thoma was faster but Ioane was smarter, covering any attack off.
Aj
Guest
When you compare things they should be similar a 40 point win and a 3 point win and a draw are slightly different
CHUCKED
Guest
Good and bad calls go BOTH Ways. Lions vs NZ Last year, several simply wrong decisions which favoured the Lions, one DREW THE SERIES - There was NO Bitching from Hansen or Read.
The Neutral View From Sweden
Roar Guru
Hello RT and congrats to the win. The AB's were most def the better side, anyone saying anything else is just trying to wind people up. An AB's win was always in the cards. Maybe we watch the game a bit different, but from the neutral corner the ref ruined - not decided - the contest. As a keen admirer and watcher of the AB's, I like to see them challenged and work through adversity and some pain to get over the line. Now the ref handed it to them on a silver plate, and frankly, they neither needed that favor or had asked for it. We can never know exactly how the Test would have played out if the ref got the key calls right, but we can make very qualified guesses, however, to use the blown up scoreline as an excuse to ignore some very shocking decisions just doesn't fly with me. And to be fair, most Kiwis (players, fans, coaches, media et al) are not giving the ref a free pass. Only the usual suspects that go on like "nothing happened".
Rugby Tragic
Roar Rookie
Neutral ... I felt that the AB's had control from about the 23-30 min mark and it was a matter of time. There is no mystery that the AB's move into a higher gear at the moment of their choosing. They chose so just before half time but the French resistance was stunning but it was starting to scramble s they held the AB's out. It is very rare that the AB's do not 'click' for a period in a whole game, it could be just before HT, just after or into the the last 20 where they seem able to ramp it up. I confess I have been seriously spoilt following the AB's, they have given me great memories and few disappointments (to keep my feet on terra firma). I make no comment about the referee other than I'm please he was 'neutral', but for anyone suggesting that his decisions last Saturday materially changed the result is I think a little delusional.
Die hard
Roar Rookie
I agree RT. If Reid was there they might have clicked earlier. Glad to see some cohesion in the first game of the year for a change The Bok's might be scary good this year and the Wallabys always worry. It's going to be a damned fine RC this year Other than the chips and stabs I didn't identity any new way of playing yet but I don't always see the obvious so early doors
Rugby Tragic
Roar Rookie
Die hard, the AB's, imo had control of the game from about the 25th-30th minute... it was then only a matter of time... I was expecting the usually last 20 flurry but I guess the YC accelerated that. That might sound arrogant but that is how I saw the game .... But hey... the RC is going to be great this year .. the Boks are Back, the Wallabies have cohesion and depth for their 23 man squad now, bring it on!