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'They've got to look in the mirror': Recriminations underway as France cap All Blacks' worst season since 2009

20th November, 2021
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20th November, 2021
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Hooker Peato Mauvaka has continued his remarkable scoring form with two more tries as France handed New Zealand a stinging 40-25 defeat to deepen the wounds after the All Blacks lost in Ireland last weekend.

Saturday night’s match was the last of the year for both teams, and with 20 minutes left at Stade de France they had three tries each, and there were only two points in it.

Then came a moment of genius from flyhalf Romain Ntamack, who saved a try when he caught a bouncing ball behind his own line and launched a stunning field-length counterattack which ended with France earning a penalty just as momentum was turning against them.

Three more points from fullback Melvyn Jaminet’s faultless boot made it 30-25 and gave France a little breathing space, especially with New Zealand No. 8 Ardie Savea sin-binned.

Ntamack went off to a huge ovation and moments later an interception by burly winger Damian Penaud gave France a free try for a 12-point lead with a little more than 10 minutes left.

The French were more inspired on the night, and a stellar performance included a fine try from Ntamack after coach Fabien Galthie movedhim from centre back to flyhalf – where he made his name at the 2019 Rugby World Cup.

France face New Zealand in Stade de France again in the opening game of the 2023 World Cup, and won’t have to worry about their Paris bogey now. It was France’s first win over the All Blacks in Paris since 1973, and their first at home since 2000.

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Beating the All Blacks marked the biggest statement yet by a rapidly improving side Galthie has developed out of the junior world champion sides from 2018 and 2019.

The All Blacks were down 24-6 at the interval but almost turned it around with three straight second-half tries from fullback Jordie Barrett, prolific center Rieko Ioane, and Savea.

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Then Ntamack’s flash of inspiration caught the masters of it, the All Blacks, by surprise.

Jaminet’s last-second penalty ensured his perfect night ended without a miss and the French celebrated a huge win.

All Blacks captain Sam Whitelock bemoaned his team’s slow start.

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“We gave them the start they wanted,” he said. “They were up by a couple of tries early and we clawed it back there but they finished strong. So the biggest thing for us we wanted to start well, and we didn’t.

“We gave them a sniff and it brought in the big crowd that obviously brought them home.

“Playing France at home is different to any other Test match. And it’s something that we’ve got to learn from and get better. There’s no excuses for us. We just weren’t good enough.

We didn’t deal with it and have to evolve going forward. It’s something that we can’t afford to have happen. It just makes Test match rugby so much harder than it already is.”

YThe result means the All Blacks have had their worst season since 2009 and the recriminations after back to back losses, to go with a third against South Africa, have already started.

“The French were very dominant, they show some innovation at set piece, but also their counter attack – pretty special,” said All Blacks legend John Kirwan on Sky Sports NZ.

“If you lose two in a row and three in one season – worst season since 2009 – the coaching staff need to go away, they need to have a look at being outplayed in parts of the game.

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“They need to look at personnel and getting a style of rugby moving forward. This result will not matter if we go away and learn from it and come out next season. Are they tired? Yes. Has it been a tough season? Yes. But All Blacks do not make excuses.

“You’ve got to look in the mirror and find out why we got outplayed two weeks in a row.”

Kirwan said the All Blacks have fallen off in an area where they were the world’s most dominant team.

“We need to go and have a look at our attack plan,” he said. “We’ve always been innovators, as far as how we attack. It’s just a bit predictable. We need to go away, change things up a wee bit, be less predictable.”

All Blacks great Jeff Wilson said France were better all round.

“Second week in a row, we dug ourselves into a hole, and we weren’t good enough to get ourselves out of it,” Wilson said.

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“We got ourselves in a position to actually win this Test but they just did the little things better than us.

“In the second half, we played some really positive, inspired rugby. But when it came down to the last 20 minutes that mattered this French team, they’re well and truly contenders.

“They’ve made their mark. They’ve done that in Six Nations and done that against the All Blacks. I’ll tell you what, they’re fun to watch, they play great rugby.”

New Zealand, he said have “got some serious question marks.”

“It’s going to be a long summer for a number of All Blacks. We know they’ve been away from home for a long time, we understand it’s been a difficult tour, but to lose back to back Test matches, at the end of this tour, against Ireland and France, it has to be concerning.”

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