Three disallowed All Blacks tries, relentless French defence, and TMO interventions throughout all combined to continue the special rivalry between the two sides before New Zealand achieved its 500th Test victory in the first Lipovitan-D series clash in Dunedin on Saturday.
The unfancied French belied all the controversy surrounding their selection for the tour with a gutsy display that was not quelled until the final moments of the game.
It was a reminder that the French in the mood can cause problems for any All Blacks side, and they took advantage of the home side’s first Test of the year to unsettle their chances of making combinations. And they gave the All Blacks a reminder of their need for better execution in the air.
There was satisfaction in the introduction of new players, with lock Fabian Holland making his mark as the All Blacks dominated the lineouts 19-5. No8 Christian Lio-Willie made some powerful runs with ball in hand, while prop Ollie Norris and flanker Du’Plessis Kirifi got a taste of how torrid Test matches can be during the final quarter especially.
France had their heroes with fullback Theo Attissogbe who under pressure, especially from the All Blacks kicking, pulled off some remarkable saves that contributed to the effectiveness of the French defence, who made 224 tackles to 121 by the All Blacks, while captain and second five-eighths Gael Fickou was a constant presence in the backline.
There was disappointment for the All Blacks 15 minutes into the game when they appeared to have scored after a break by halfback Cameron Roigard and a link with second five-eighths Jordie Barrett, who crossed. But the TMO ruled the ball had been knocked on earlier when prop Fraser Newell appeared to have completed a catch.
From the scrum, France moved the ball when Attissogbe made ground on the outside before the ball was moved inside to centre Emilien Gailleton and Fickou, who went close to scoring before No8 Mickael Guillard picked it up to cross in the 17th minute.
The response was immediate. In attempting to clear their line from the restart, French halfback Nolann Le Garrec had his kick charged down by lock Scott Barrett. The ball was moved to the left before it came back right, where Beauden Barrett threw a long ball to Will Jordan on the wing, and he crossed for his 39th try.
He was moved to the wing after Sevu Reece failed an HIA after a first-minute head knock when attempting a tackle.
The All Blacks got back into the French 22m area and built pressure before the ball emerged for replacement Damian McKenzie, who tap-danced his way through five tackles and, while finally put down, quick ball was moved by Roigard to flanker Tupou Vaa’i, who scored under the crossbar.
Capping their improved second quarter, the All Blacks made the most of some burrowing, bullocking running by flanker Ardie Savea, who gave the attack momentum. The ball was released, and while the French defence affected the fluidity, the combination of Beauden Barrett and Jordan got the ball to Jordie Barrett, who had to take a low pass and work his way around a tackle attempt to ground the ball in the corner for a 21-13 lead at the break.
A mistake at the restart by the All Blacks gave France a sniff, which they took, with Fickou taking the ball to the line before it was released to wing Gabil Villiere to score to get France back within a point.
However, the All Blacks burst back after Roigard broke to the line to create a 46th-minute chance, which saw Beauden Barrett feed the ball to Jordan running from depth to break through two tackles to score his second.
The French struck back when they made five changes for immediate effect, with Jacobus van Tonder breaking into space and only being pulled down by Roigard’s chasing tackle. However, in the goalmouth assault, it was fellow replacement Cameron Woki who scored.
After Villiere was sin-binned for a deliberate knockdown, the All Blacks looked to have scored when Billy Proctor touched down, but a knock-on was ruled and the try scrubbed.
However, within five minutes, the pain increased when the obstruction was ruled against Pasilio Tosi, which resulted in a third try being denied to Jordan.
The win broke the run of three consecutive losses to France, while their 500th win lifted their overall Test percentage success rate of 76.80
New Zealand 31 ( Will Jordan 2, Tupou Vaa’i, Jordie Barrett tries; Beauden Barrett 4 con, pen) France 27 (Michael Guillard, Gabil Villiere, Cameron Woki tries; Joris Segonds pen; Nolann Le Garrec 3 con, pen). [HT: 21-13]
New Zealand: 15 Will Jordan, 14 Sevu Reece, 13 Billy Proctor, 12 Jordie Barrett, 11 Rieko Ioane, 10 Beauden Barrett, 9 Cam Roigard, 8 Christian Lio-Willie, 7 Ardie Savea, 6 Tupou Vaa’i, 5 Fabian Holland, 4 Scott Barrett (captain), 3 Fletcher Newell, 2 Codie Taylor, 1 Ethan de Groot.
Replacements: 16 Samisoni Taukei’aho, 17 Ollie Norris, 18 Pasilio Tosi, 19 Samipeni Finau, 20 Du’Plessis Kirifi, 21 Cortez Ratima, 22 Quinn Tupaea, 23 Damian McKenzie.
France: 15 Theo Attissogbe, 14 Tom Spring, 13 Emilien Gailleton, 12 Gael Fickou (captain), 11 Gabin Villière, 10 Joris Segonds, 9 Nolann Le Garrec, 8 Mickael Guillard, 7 Killian Tixeront, 6 Alexandre Fischer, 5 Tyler Duguid, 4 Hugo Auradou, 3 Rabah Slimani, 2 Gaetan Barlot, 1 Giorgi Beria.
Replacements: 16 Pierre Bourgarit, 17 Paul Mallez, 18 Regis Montagne, 19 Romain Taofifenua, 20 Cameron Woki, 21 Jacobus van Tonder, 22 Baptiste Jauneau, 23 Antoine Hastoy.
Referee: Nic Berry (Australia)
Assistant referees: Christophe Ridley (England), Takehito Namekawa (Japan)
TMO: Damon Murphy (Australia)
