All Blacks fade as France slip through Kiwi fingers in Paris

By Liam Napier

A performance that offered so much promise deteriorated to a deflating defeat in Paris for the All Blacks.

Returning to the scene of last year’s World Cup final loss, the All Blacks carried momentum and confidence from the last two weeks to summon a supremely dominant first half and leave France there for the taking.

The All Blacks weren’t helped by several perplexing decisions from Georgian referee Nika Amashukeli – and one baffling TMO decision for a neck roll from replacement prop Ofa Tu’ungafasi – but so, too, were they their own worst enemies with multiple errors proving costly.

Following wins in 2023 and in 2021, France have now recorded three victories in succession over the All Blacks but Scott Robertson’s men will know they let this result, and the Dave Gallaher Trophy, slip through their grasp.

An unbeaten northern tour was within reach but as fatigue and the officials took hold in the final quarter, the All Blacks lost all semblance of flow.

After falling one point short they will also rue the conversative decision to take the points instead of kicking for the corner and having a crack at a match-winning try in the closing stages.

Having laid the platform for another memorable victory discipline, handling issues, and the gradual deterioration of ruck presentation from the All Blacks handed France the chance to recover.

France scored 14 unanswered points and claimed two tries – one to speedy wing Louis Bielle-Biarrey from a dropped ball - as the All Blacks went try-less in the second half, which allowed the locals to overturn a 17-10 half time deficit.

After clinging on for victory against England at Twickenham and toppling Ireland in Dublin last week, the All Blacks slip to nine wins and four losses this season with one test remaining in Italy next week.

Frustration and disappointment will linger after the All Blacks, through their set piece and attacking movement, produced a superb first half performance. Tired legs were evident after a gruelling three-week stretch but in the final quarter, the All Blacks fell short of their standards in accuracy.

France, missing classy wing Damian Penaud, first-choice props Uini Atonio and Cyril Baille, and starting loose forward Anthony Jelonch were shorn of influential figures and short on preparation, having had one hit out against a poor Japanese side since July.

The All Blacks should have put France away but they bottled the crucial finish to snap their five test winning run.

Tactically the All Blacks adopted minimal kicking, keeping ball in hand, building continuity, phases and using the width. They had France under immense pressure for long periods but as the pace slowed to a grind they struggled to deliver the telling blow and execute.

The All Blacks, missing Sam Cane through a nasty gash to his head, suffered an early setback with Samipeni Finau departing after copping a knee to the head in the second minute to promote Peter Lakai off the bench for his second test appearance. Later in the half Jordie Barrett also left the field with a leg injury to inject Anton Lienert-Brown into the midfield.

Cane’s absence allowed Wallace Sititi to start in his favoured position at the back of the scrum and, in a back to the future reshuffle, moved Ardie Savea to openside. Savea’s positional switch freed him up to roam the edges and have a telling impact with ball in hand.

It was there Savea sparked the All Blacks’ opening strike for Lakai. With multiple offloads and brilliant support play the All Blacks left the French crowd stunned following a stunning piece of attacking rugby.

With a performance in which his noted ball carrying came to the fore, Lakai proved he is the long-term future All Blacks loose forwards alongside Sititi.

Up front the All Blacks laid the platform through their set piece, with Tupou Vaa’i stealing two lineouts and Scott Barrett nabbing one. The second-rowers worked superbly in tandem, with Barrett often lifting Vaa’i to expertly read France’s throws.

The scrum was supremely dominant, too. Tamaiti Williams led the charge there to justify the decision to continually exclude Ethan de Groot after his initial absence at the start of this tour for an off-field discipline issue. With ball in hand and at the breakdown Williams made his presence felt, too.

One day after his 24th birthday, Cam Roigard pulled off a moment of individual brilliance. Like a thief in the Paris night Roigard, making his first start for the All Blacks since last year’s World Cup, pinched the ball from French No 8 Grégory Alldritt to score. Marking Antoine Dupont, widely dubbed the world’s premier player, this was a statement performance from the highly competitive Roigard.

While Roigard left no doubt about the All Blacks best halfback, Cortez Ratima - as he did last week against Ireland - struggled once injected in the second half with two costly errors. Ratima was not alone in this regard, though.

Before the final quarter France were largely on the backfoot but, as always, Dupont produced a couple of classy touches off the boot and from the base. His control was influential in controlling, guiding France to recover somewhat before halftime through fullback Romain Buros.

While there were positives for the All Blacks in the form of Lakai, Williams, Roigard and Caleb Clarke’s individual performances, collectively they will stew on their lack of ruthlessness and accuracy that ultimately cost them victory.

This article was first published on nzherald.co.nz and is republished here with permission