France player ratings vs New Zealand | Rugby World Cup 2023
A Mark Telea try gave New Zealand the lead just two minutes into the Rugby World Cup 2023 opening match in Paris, but France came back through the phenomenal boot of Tomas Ramos and some standout performances up front, resulting in the All Blacks‘ first ever pool loss in the tournament’s history.
The 27-13 win came about as France shut down New Zealand’s attacking chances and put them on the back foot, with a few players in particular catching the eye as France turned up the heat in the second half.
1. Reda Wardi – 7
Despite earning just the third start of his career, Wardi left a significant impact before going off to a planned substitution in the 52nd minute. He proved his worth up front by contributing to France’s solid pack and worked hard throughout. An impressive performance overall.
2. Julien Marchand – 7
The French hooker, who unfortunately had to leave the field due to injury in the 10th minute, ironically paved the way for his replacement to light up the pitch. But in his brief stint before injury, his breakdown work was outstanding and sadly led to a hamstring injury. Difficult to rate, but put in a good performance while on the field.
3. Uini Atonio – 8
An almighty performance up front from the New Zealand born behemoth who dominated his opposite number in the scrums, earning two penalties in succession and made some big clearouts and good touches in the loose. He worked hard for all 52 minutes he was on the field.
4. Cameron Woki – 7
Industrious up front as he stepped up when needed, considering the loss to injury of Paul Willemse just before the tournament started. Carried well, won some lineouts and marshalled the French maul. Contributed well in just over a half of rugby.
5. Thibaud Flament – 7
A solid cog in the wheel of the team effort that led to the win, Flament carried well, was good in the set piece and actually broke the line to almost score at one stage. A valuable member of the pack.
6. Francois Cros – 7
Much like Flament, Cros made some big tackles and had a good work rate in the tight loose. He was overshadowed by the likes of Aldritt, but made a solid contribution to the game.
7. Charles Ollivon – 6
Tackled well and won important lineouts, Ollivon had a fairly quiet game but made a few impressive runs and lineout steals, as well as showed some good tackling to shut down New Zealand opportunities.
8. Gregory Alldritt – 9
An immense performance from the standout player on the park, Alldritt worked hard throughout with multiple strong carries, a brilliant turnover and in general he showed why he’s started eight of nine of France’s latest games. The 26-year-old rightly earned the Man of the Match title, and was a workhorse that led from the front, with 42 meters carried in just the first half alone.
9. Antoine Dupont – 8
Not his best ever performance for France, but he met his usual high standards and marshalled his troops despite the pressure he faced from Aaron Smith for most of the match. He cleared well from the base and even took on Beauden Barrett in a sprint, in his 50th Test for his country.
10. Matthieu Jalibert – 8
A bit of a mixed- bag for Jalibert but in the key moments he stepped up, despite some leaky tackling early on. He cleared the line well and did make a crucial tackle on the dangerous Telea, and created what should have been a stunning try in the corner for winger Penaud, then set him up again with some lovely play. Will grow in confidence from this performance.
11. Gabin Villiere – 6
Despite the comfortable win for France, exciting winger Villiere had very few opportunities and at times was guilty of trying to create things out of nothing, which led to turnovers. He did have one good run that led to a penalty for France, but will be hoping he gets more ball in hand if he gets a chance against Uruguay.
12. Yoram Moefana – 6
Playing in his 19th Test for France, Moefana didn’t have a lot of ball to work with in hand but made some important tackles and clearouts at the breakdown. He handled the pressure of the big occasion well and did his job to keep the dangerous New Zealand backs at bay, but had a fairly quiet game.
13. Gael Fickou – 7
Playing in his third Rugby World Up with 81 Tests, Fickou appeared to be guilty of a bad defensive read in the opening minutes of the game as Rieko Ioane streaked through, leading to New Zealand’s first try. He bounced back though and much like Moefana, put in a solid shift and tackled well in the midfield.
14. Damian Penaud – 8
The big winger had very few opportunities in the first half but worked hard to look for chances and defend well. The ball went his way in the second period though as he nearly scored in the corner, but for a brilliant Richie Mo’unga covering tackle and the ball in the wrong hand.
He did end up scoring eventually, following on from scoring against New Zealand when they beat them 40-25 in 2021.
He has now scored in his last five Tests, with nine for the year.
15. Thomas Ramos – 9
The fullback was crucial in keeping the scoreboard ticking over and was outstanding under the high ball, making just two clear mistakes all match – one dropped ball and one missed kick due to pressure from the shot clock. Aside from that, he was key in France’s win and included a 50 meter penalty kick in his repertoire.
In his 28th match for his country, this was actually his first against the All Blacks.
REPLACEMENTS
16. Peato Mauvaka – 9
Surely close to getting Man of the Match, hooker Mauvaka put in a storming performance after coming on early due to the unfortunate injury to Marchand. He made big hits, a brilliant break and chip and chase down the wing, showed great hands in the loose and took a quick tap late to nearly set up another try from the counter attack. A standout performance.
17. Jean-Baptiste Gros – 6
The front rower came on with fresh legs to keep the forward pack moving forward and didn’t put much of a foot wrong, making some impressive tackles.
18. Dorian Aldegheri – 6
As with Gros, front row life isn’t about the glamour and Aldegheri worked hard in the dark corners and made sure that his backs were moving forward. Powerful at the breakdown.
19. Romain Taofifenua – 8
Taofifenua came on for Woki in the 49th minute and put in a good shift, working hard to show his physicality and fly into some of the hapless All Blacks at the breakdown. He also showed a few nice touches.
20. Paul Boudehent – 8
Young Boudehent came on at the 62 minute mark and immediately made an impact with a commanding chop tackle that created a turnover and led to another dangerous French attack. The 23-year-old has a big future ahead and this may well be the tournament that further boosts his name.
21. Maxime Lucu – 7
The replacement halfback came on with just 5 minutes left so couldn’t make a huge difference in a winning effort, but he did put in the nicely placed kick that set up Jaminet’s try at the end. He has big boots to full but didn’t put a foot wrong.
22. Arthur Vincent – 7
The highly rated Vincent wasn’t on for very long before making a brilliant turnover on Talea, leading to a try. Powerful in the turnover and some may say a better option than Moefana. It’ll be interesting to see how he is used for the rest of the tournament.
23. Melvyn Jaminet – 8
Difficult to give him a fair rating with just 5 minutes on the park, but Jaminet came on and scored with what appeared to be his very first touch of the ball, plucking it out of the air ahead of teammate Penaud.
He scored 20 points against the All Blacks in 2021, so seems to have found his favourite team to play against.
Comments on RugbyPass
Why cant I watch Rugby games please?
1 Go to commentsBeautiful shot from Finau, end of story. Gutted for Shaun Stevenson though.
4 Go to commentsThe Chiefs definitely didn’t win ugly. They had the superior scrum, a dominant lineout, and their defence was excellent once the Waratahs scored their two tries (thanks to some lucky refereeing calls mind you). They put pressure on the Waratahs lineout throughout the game, and the mind boggles as to why the referee did not award a yellow card or a penalty try against the Waratahs for repeated scrum infringements on their own try line before Narawa’s first try. And the Chiefs were slick with their passing and running angles on attack. It was a dominant performance all round, even with many questionable refereeing decisions.
1 Go to commentsWasnt late. Ref 2 assistants andTMO all saw it so who are you to say it was?
4 Go to commentsAre the Brumbies playing the Blues twice in a row?
4 Go to commentsBig difference from the Saders. Forwards really muscled up and laid a solid platform. Scooter brought some steel and I liked the loosie combination. Newell has been rather disappointing this season but stepped up big time - happy also to see Franks dot down. He should do that more often! Reihana had a good game and there seems to be more flair and invention with him in the saddle. McNicoll plays well from the back and is reliable plus inventive when he joins the line. Keep it up chaps!
3 Go to comments🤦♂️🤣 who cares who’s the best . All I know is the All Blacks have the star coach but have few star players now …
30 Go to commentsJe suis sûr que Farrell est impatient de jouer avec Lopez et Machenaud et d’être entraîné par Collazo… 🤭
1 Go to commentsAn on field red (aka a full red) in SRP must surely carry a bigger suspension than a red card given by the bunker as that carries a 20 minute team punishment. Had Damon Murphy abdicated his responsibility as a ref and issued both Drua players a yellow, which would have been upgraded to a 20 minute red by the bunker, that would have killed Australia and New Zealand’s push for the 20 minute red to be trialled globally from July this year.
11 Go to commentsEver so often you all post a Danny Care story that isn’t the announcement that he has finally re-signed for one more, victory tour season at Quins and I’m just like, “well you fooled me again!” My absolute favorite player ever, we need to make his final year at the Stoop (and Twickers) official already. I know he supposedly snubbed France but I won’t feel better until he signs.
1 Go to commentslate hit what late hit it wasn’t at all late and can clearly see he was committed before the tackle
4 Go to commentsChristian Lio -Willies 2 try perfomance was a standout. As was captain Scott Barrett. Up front was where the boys won it.They are a great team and players. Fantastic Crusaders , you can keep going.
3 Go to commentsI don't know how the locals feel about that? I guess if you call yourselves the Worcester Wasps that might be appease. But really we need more teams in the Premiership in my view so they are not padding it out as they are at the moment. It might curtail so many players going abroad as well
5 Go to commentsNZ 😭😭😭is certainly rivaling England for best whingers cup!😭😭😭 !!!
30 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
30 Go to commentsShould've done this years ago. Change Saturday kick off times to around 11am. Up and off and back home before 3pm, limit travel time too. Allows players to actually do something else with their Saturday that's family oriented or being rugby fans they could ‘watch’ pro rugby. Increases crowds etc. How can anyone that enjoys grassroots and pro rugby have to choose between the two on Saturdays?
9 Go to commentsI bet he inspired those supporters just as much.
1 Go to commentsBen Smith Springboks living rent free in his head 😊😂
67 Go to commentsGood to hear he would like to play the game at the highest level, I hadn’t been to sure how much of a motivator that was before now. Sadly he’s probably chosen the rugby club to go to. Try not to worry about all the input about how you should play rugby Joey and just try to emulate what you do on the league field and have fun. You’ll limit your game too much (well not really because he’s a standard athlete like SBW and he’ll still have enough) if you’re trying to make sure you can recycle the ball back etc. On the other hard, you can totally just try and recycle by looking to offload any and everywhere if you’re going to ground 😋
1 Go to commentsThis just proves that theres always a stat and a metric to use to justify your abilities and your success. Ben did it last week by creating an imaginary competition and now you did the same to counter his argument and espouse a new yardstick for success. Why not just use the current one and lets say the Boks have won 4 world cups making them the most successful world cup team. Outside of the world cup the All Blacks are the most successful team winning countless rugby championships and dominating the rankings with high win percentages. Over the last 4 years statistically the Irish are the best having the highest win rate and also having positive records against every tier 1 side. The most successful Northern team in the game has been England with a world cup title and the most six nations titles in history. The AB’s are the most dominant team in history with the highest win rate and 3 world cups. Lets not try to reinvent the wheel. Just be honest about the actual stats and what each team has been good at doing and that will be enough to define their level of success.
30 Go to comments