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.
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.
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.
“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.
“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.
“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.”
WEST
Roar Guru
Haha In a nutshell, yes. More, us putting pressure on opposition, forcing errors for us to counter attack off. Dominate at the contact areas, have a sharp set piece.. But also thrive in unstructured fast running rugby.. Now we’re at the mercy of the things we use to do to other teams.
Paulo
Roar Rookie
“The French & Irish are playing how we use to play” …you mean ‘well’. They are playing well, like we use to :unhappy:
WEST
Roar Guru
Just pressure, trying to shift the ball to more space. If the pass worked out, we had opening’s in front of us.. But we’re struggling with space & time. Not creating enough space to work with Lead’s to not enough time.. before that rush Defence is all over us. The French & Irish are playing how we use to play
Paulo
Roar Rookie
It’s the circle of life mate, eat or be eaten.
moaman
Roar Guru
Great atmosphere though mate? It looked fabulous. Made me wish I was there.
moaman
Roar Guru
:silly:
moaman
Roar Guru
As you would
of*have read on further. :thumbup: Otago Man, Fully agree with you. The failure to review Foster's appointment is just a continuation of the sense that the NZRU is a 'Boys' Club' and hard for outsiders to break in to.moaman
Roar Guru
Im always elated when NZ is defeated in anything What happened? Did you try to bully the wrong kiwi one time?
WEST
Roar Guru
Fozzy selections are puzzling? Not sure what the players are thinking. Giving everyone a run is fine, but there has to be some rhyme and reason behind his selection choices.. I’ve been trying to work it out since last year! I’m starting to wonder if Foster knows himself! Injuries replacements are one thing
Wallabies_Larkham
Roar Rookie
Westie..this game reminded me very much of england vs France game at the start of the year...french flair literally dismantled england but then england came back to lose 24- 17...what this tells me is that French flair are still vulnerable for some periods in the game..and during that period you should score quickly just like AB did before they click again and run you to shreds...
Wallabies_Larkham
Roar Rookie
Westie...when akira was picked next to cane I knew that cane was going to have a hard time as he still have to babysit Akira...this was unfair and quite risky from fozzie to do this to a man who just returned from injury..
Wallabies_Larkham
Roar Rookie
Paulo... when ka mate the haka was performed for the French flair...i knew AB was in serious trouble as usually kapa o pango is reserved for certain opponents....
Wallabies_Larkham
Roar Rookie
Westie it is ironic that the AB season finish of with an intercept try for French flair where your boyz used to intercept my beloved team...
Wallabies_Larkham
Roar Rookie
"If we’re stuck with him, hopefully he’ll start getting pressure from friends and coaches he knows to change everything up"...hahah
Wallabies_Larkham
Roar Rookie
Otago..i think your first line is key..it appears sometimes that fozzie is buddies with the players instead of being a ruthless coach that does not fool around with players not up to AB standards...
Homer Gain
Guest
Sorry Jeff Wilson, you can't flatter yourself that you are playing against a team trhat has "made its mark in the 6 Nations." They haven't won it since 2010. And on five occasions since they have finished fourth or lower. That they looked so good yesterday was in part a reversion to French flair that always looks great when it works, but rarely wins anything. Galthie was a nearly man as a player and to date, as a coach. Which must leave NZ feeling all the more concerned at its teams disorderly conduct. Kudos to the forwards for a show of second half heart. But, even then, the likes of Coles, Retallick and Whitelock just looked like old men raging at the dying of the light. And for all Ioane's individual genius, the backline was shambolic.
WEST
Roar Guru
The All Blacks must work on dominating the contact area.. If you aren’t dominating it. You’re being dominated. All Blacks have to get far more aggressive at the counter ruck.. If these current guys aren’t capable of being more aggressive, find players who are. The Jackal! We need to our pack to create more jackal opportunities. With fast line speed and aggressive dominant tackling. Also allow All Players to have free rein on potential jackaling opportunities with ruck pressure. Currently we don’t have anyone as our top jackals? The Boks have half a dozen? All of these teams have at least 4-5 jackals who consistently put pressure on ruck ball and have high turnover counts.. Who do we have? Also our whole structure is missing.. Example look at SA, they always have two players at the head of an attack formation, two to protect the ball and prevent counter rucking, two and the back to protect the 9 from rushing defence and allow him to get quick ball or allow time for the boxkick. Also a kick blocker stood in line with the 9 to protect the kicker. Our attacks are disjointed and unorganised! The other main reason we’re missing more jackals. If we’re starting to get more success over the ball and counter ruck, the oppositions are forced to draw in more players to defend their ball, that creates mismatches in the defensive line with a numerical advantage.
Double Agent
Guest
"We beat you … hahaha" Congratulations!! What position did you play?
WEST
Roar Guru
Not just belief, we’re starting to get humiliated.. Foster is still cool with this! Foster needs to bring in someone who can set him straight.. If we’re stuck with him, hopefully he’ll start getting pressure from friends and coaches he knows to change everything up
WEST
Roar Guru
Anyone notice the twenty minute patch the forwards went to work? Pick n goes, real basic forward driving up the middle. Having 3 guys to cover the ball runners at all times, the French couldn’t get near the ball. It’s not pretty but we’re going to have to go back to basics. Until you can establish a foothold in the game against these NH packs, this style has to be our go to game plan, at least until we’re establishing momentum. Once we’ve got a dominant position as far as territory and ball possession, that should at least help towards numerically advantage. Then we can start implementing more variety in our attack and our defence.. Coming out with our current approach.. Same tactics we use against Fiji or the Wallabies or anyone is foolish! Unacceptable, is Foster really that naive? Seems like it? France were very good! So was Ireland.. but fuk me we do a lot to make them look even better!