France frustrated by officials again as All Blacks complete sweep in style
New Zealand completed an unconvincing series sweep over France with another controversial yet comfortable triumph, 49-14, in Dunedin on Saturday.
The All Blacks had profited from refereeing calls in the prior two Tests – France suffering a contentious sin-binning in the first, before Benjamin Fall’s subsequently rescinded red card in the second – and, against a full-strength side, they were worked hard in this one.
Indeed, the intervention of an official again impacted the match when referee John Lacey appeared to obstruct Baptiste Serin as Damian McKenzie gave New Zealand a half-time lead.
A more confident New Zealand display followed the restart, with McKenzie at the fore and Rieko Ioane scoring a hat-trick, as France fell well short.
Yet a series in which Steve Hansen’s side won comfortably on three occasions can offer relatively little encouragement, with slow starts and favourable decisions the central themes.
As in the previous Tests, France began on the front foot and only a desperate Aaron Smith lunge prevented Teddy Thomas escaping early on.
The visitors then lost key man Morgan Parra to a head injury, but it was his replacement who soon made a deserved breakthrough. Les Bleus worked the ball back and forth in front of the scrambling All Blacks, before Serin sold a dummy and dived across the line.
That try belatedly drew a response from New Zealand, though, and Ben Smith tore through a gaping hole in the French side to equalise.
Matt Todd drove through a maul from a lineout to cross and nudge the hosts in front, but they were pegged back when Wesley Fofana bounced off a pair of tackles to lunge over the line.
However, as an entertaining first half continued, France again had reason to be upset with the officiating when, following a scrum, Lacey inadvertently blocked Serin’s path and McKenzie raced away to score.
That proved to be the boost the All Blacks needed and McKenzie slalomed through for a second try shortly after half-time.
McKenzie then turned provider with a speedy offload to Ioane, who streaked clear for a fifth try, before another ruthless move created an opening for the same man to double his tally.
Debutant Shannon Frizell was denied by a video review, ruled to have fallen just short of the line, but it was a temporary reprieve for France as Ioane got his third to cap the scoring.
HAT-TRICK! @rieko_ioane salutes the crowd, as he goes over for his third of the night! All Blacks 49 – 14 France#NZLvFRA #SteinlagerSeries pic.twitter.com/JlNolu0j7R
— All Blacks (@AllBlacks) June 23, 2018
Comments on RugbyPass
I guess we may all agree on the fact, that the ABs and Boks are the two in contest for No 1 in rugby history (the triple-A sort of) …. the Wallabies, England and France are the next tier, with Ireland being the new kid in town (AA) …. in my view it makes little sense creating imaginary competitions (unless you have too much time to waste)
43 Go to commentsWhat a joke. Total joke and the pundits commentating, all of whom know a bit about the game, could barely disguise their contempt. Reaching for the card then pulling back when he realised a red card would carry further match suspensions is simply not his decision to make. A clear and obvious influence on the outcome of this match and indeed, the championship path.
4 Go to commentsI like the idea, in NZ the Ranfurly Shield and NPC coexist, both having their own bragging rights. The World Cup would be the pinnacle, but the competition and travels of these trophies would be interesting.
43 Go to commentsDon’t worry Sonny bill Williams leave that awkward situation about the curfew in the pass whoever it was it doesn’t matter its no big deal we back our All Blacks through the storm and the thunder until we see the Sun light again.
42 Go to commentsWho listens to this retard? He was a massive liability as a player but obviously a media sensation
42 Go to commentsI’m not surprised by such ‘virtue signalling’ by Sonny Boy. Butter wouldn’t melt in his mouth. He’s such a pious Islamic muppet, imo.
42 Go to commentsI’ve actually never heard of the guy (then I don’t watch League as it is boring). But if he is good enough.. then good luck to him. If not, well, he can always return to league.
2 Go to commentsIt is pretty clear that by almost any measure that NZ are a more successful rugby nation than South Africa. Quite aside from the distasteful events during the last RWC final. NZ lead SA in all significant measurements.
43 Go to commentsDickson went to his pocket for a card, saw who it was, changed his mind and spoke at length to TMO. One angle clearly shows Care diving over a Saints player to kill the ball. 1st yellow, reason given for not Red was player was falling backwards. He was only falling backwards after contact with Lawes. Graham try should have stood. Mitchell did not have both hands on the ball, ball went forward from a Saints boot dragging over it. 2 intentional knock-on's. One of which had an overlap on the outside. If Quins are happy to win by intentional foul play, then it does not say much for them. Would appear to be a bad day for Karl Dickson, also for the RFU in appointing a Ref who spent 8 years as a player at one of the clubs.
4 Go to commentsLet’s not forget about Ardie Savea just yet.
6 Go to commentsThe URC and the Euro Championscup can’t run at the same time, basically dilutes both competitions.
2 Go to comments“While Sotutu should start at No.8 for the All Blacks against England, but it’s only in that arena that he can prove just how good he really is.” And that my friends is where simply hasnt shone despite multiple opportunities. Even in this performance you can see what did him in in the test arena..he almost always still runs at the opposition almost ramrod upright making him easier to stop than it should be.
6 Go to commentsShould have been 0-0 and a message from SR CEO to both teams - “don’t worry about turning up next year”.
4 Go to commentsGreat work Owen Franks. A great of this team, scoring his first try for the Crusaders since 2010.He was beaming, justifiably. A fine win, he and the rest did the job up front.
1 Go to commentsDanny Care. Lang in die tand.
1 Go to commentsBig empty stadium does nothing for atmosphere but munster are playing well with solid performance
1 Go to commentsYes, Fiji can win the World Cup! With that belief plus their christian faith🙏 and hard work it is achievable. Great article. Ian Duncan Fiji resident 1981-84
2 Go to commentsInteresting comments about Touch. England’s hosting the Touch World Cup this year and the numbers have exploded since their last World Cup in 2019, something like 70% more teams and 40 nations taking part. And England Touch have made a big thing about how many universities are in their BUCS University Touch Championship as well as Sport England membership. Can only see this growing even more domestically as more people become aware of it
10 Go to comments“Cortez Ratima is light years ahead of anyone on current form, while TJ Perenara has also skyrocketed into contention following the unfortunate injury to the talented Cam Roigard.” At last some sanity. Hitherto so many pundits have been wittering on about Finlay Christie to the point one wondered if they were observing a FC in a parallel universe where the FC they saw wasnt just the mediocre Shayne Philpott project of Fosters hapless AB reign in the real world. Ratima, Perenara and Fakatava are the ONLY logical 9s for Razor now Roigard is crocked.
4 Go to commentsThis game was just as painful as the Hurricanes game. It was real fork-in-the-eye stuff.
4 Go to comments