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France hand All Blacks historic Rugby World Cup defeat
All Blacks coach Ian Foster labelled France as “one of the clear tournament favourites” ahead of the Rugby World Cup opener, and Les Bleus more than lived up to that moniker on Friday.
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Playing in front of a vibrant crowd at Stade de France, France made the All Blacks pay for failing to turn pressure into points as they recorded a somewhat dominant 27-13 win.
It was the All Blacks’ first loss ever in a Rugby World Cup pool game.
After two years of talk, build-up and anticipation, the opening Test of the 2023 Rugby World Cup was finally here. You could both see and feel it around Paris, too.
Whether it was near the Eiffel Tower or Louvre at the Paris fan zone, or even outside the stadium in Saint-Denis, there were supporters everywhere.
French, New Zealand, Argentine and Springbok fans flocked the streets of northern Paris. Four years of waiting was finally over and the world was in union once more.
Supporters filled the stands in their droves, well before kick-off too, as they continued to sing and chant their way closer and closer to kick-off.
The Rugby World Cup began with an outstanding opening ceremony, and the Test got underway soon after.
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Both teams sang their nation anthems with pride, and then the usually vocal crowd fell silent for the All Blacks’ haka. There was no response from the French, but the challenge remained just as fierce.
Referee Jaco Pyper got the game underway at 9.18 pm on Friday, and Beauden Barrett was handed the honour of kicking off the tournament. The playmaker kicked the ball high into the Paris sky as fans watched on in awe.
The All Blacks shot out of the blocks with wing Mark Telea scoring the opening try after about 100 seconds.
Centre Rieko Ioane sliced through a hesitant French defence to put the All Blacks in a commanding position early. New Zealand spread the ball wide and the rest was history.
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But France wasn’t going to be kept quiet for long – especially the crowd. Les Bleus hit back just a couple of minutes later via the boot of fullback Thomas Ramos.
Les Bleus trailed by two points after a rapid opening five minutes.
It was a back-and-forth game during the opening quarter with neither team challenging their opponents’ try line.
But then, as the enthralling duel in the middle third of the field carried into the 18th minute, Les Bleus were awarded a penalty. The home fans let out a deafening cheer as Ramos added another three to the score.
New Zealand unleashed another attacking onslaught on Les Bleus’ try line soon after, tough, and they came within metres of snatching the lead back.
Stand-in captain Ardie Savea came close, and so did Scott Barrett, but France’s defensive wall stood strong. The All Blacks were denied time and time again.
But after catching their opponents offside, playmaker Richie Mo’unga nailed his first penalty attempt of the Test from a relatively easy position.
The All Blacks were in control once again, but it didn’t last long. Ramos kicked another penalty, and missed one, as France snatched the lead back 9-8.
New Zealand failed to have the last laugh before the break as Codie Taylor threw a try-scoring opportunity into touch about a minute before the break.
With just one point separating the teams at the break, fans wanted more.
The second term started much like the first. Fans felt a sense of déjà vu as Mark Telea scored in the opening minutes of the half.
But it was all France for the rest of the Test really. Les Bleus camped within the All Blacks’ 22, and it paid off with wing Damian Penaud sending the crowd into a frenzy.
Penaud, who was denied moments earlier by a desperate Richie Mo’unga in defence, scored down the right edge – the successful conversion gave the home crowd favourites a 16-13 lead.
Will Jordan was sent to the sin bin a minute later, too, which only added to the All Blacks’ woes entering the final quarter of the Test.
Fullback Ramos added another two penalties, and replacement Melvyn Jaminet scored a late try as France ran away with a historic Rugby World Cup victory over the All Blacks.
Comments on RugbyPass
What 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.
2 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.
40 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.
41 Go to commentsWho listens to this retard? He was a massive liability as a player but obviously a media sensation
41 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.
41 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.
40 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.
2 Go to commentsLet’s not forget about Ardie Savea just yet.
4 Go to commentsThe URC and the Euro Championscup can’t run at the same time, basically dilutes both competitions.
1 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.
4 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 commentsNow if they could just fire the Crusaders ground PA guy who likes to play his dance music and just loves the sound of his own voice the entire game, even when play is going on. And I thought their brass band thing of a few years ago was bad.
5 Go to comments