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Rugby World Cup

Ian Foster: France 'squeezed' All Blacks in 'see-sawing game'

By Ned Lester

08 Sep 2023

Ian Foster talks to the All Blacks postgame. Photo by Hannah Peters/Getty Images

New Zealand have again found themselves on the wrong side of history in a 27-13 loss to France in the opening game of the 2023 Rugby World Cup.

France overcame a fast start by the All Blacks to hand the three-time world champions their first-ever loss in the pool stages of a World Cup.

It’s the second consecutive game that head coach Ian Foster has had to front media after a historic defeat, after being handed their largest-ever margin of loss two weeks ago in London.

There were of course some positive signs for his side, but there was no denying the French endeavour as the match progressed.

“It was a heck of an opening game of the World Cup and congratulations to France,” Foster told reporters after the match.

“I thought they were the better team on the night. I was really satisfied with a lot of what we did but they managed to squeeze us for territory and possession in that last quarter and put pressure on us.

“It is certainly a big win for them but it doesn’t change a lot. We have just got to find another way through this pool.”

Rugby World Cup

Pool A

BP T

BP-7

Total

France

Italy

Namibia

Uruguay

New Zealand

Pool B

BP T

BP-7

Total

Ireland

Romania

Scotland

South Africa

Tonga

Pool C

BP T

BP-7

Total

Australia

Fiji

Georgia

Portugal

Wales

Pool D

BP T

BP-7

Total

Argentina

Chile

England

Japan

Samoa

Ever the optimist, Foster was adamant his team put in a positive performance and the loss, regardless of history, was more of a redirection than a bad omen moving forward.

“I don’t think we have to rebuild. Stats are stats, I understand all that. But in the past, we have won all our pool games but not won the tournament, and our goal is to win the tournament. This was always going to be massive, we know how strong France are.

“You saw ambition from us and whenever we had the opportunity to play, we were pretty efficient at taking it. But they denied us opportunities to attack them in their half. It was frustrating that some of the pictures we painted for the ref at scrum were penalised and perhaps they were painting slightly different pictures and getting away with it.

“There were some good lessons for us. We fired some good bullets, we just didn’t fire enough.”

“Playing France here in the opening game was pretty special but they were just a bit too good. We’ve got to find another pathway for us now.”

It was a promising start to the match but got away from the All Blacks in the second half after some missed opportunities saw the team fail to mount pressure or build on their momentum.

Stand-in captain Ardie Savea said after the match that discipline had let the team down and they were punished for it, Foster provided a more positive outlook.

“I think the discipline wasn’t too bad. They earned a few penalties from us at the breakdown, we knew they were going to be good there. But there’s enough in there going forward. This was always going to be a big game.”

The All Blacks will likely have to win all of their remaining pool games in order to progress to the knockout stages.

“It was obviously a tight game, at half-time, both teams were right in it. I thought they squeezed us in that second half and we struggled to really get a lot of momentum.

“When we did get down there we created some opportunities but we weren’t quite good enough. It was a see-sawing game, but you’ve got to take your hat off to them. In the third quarter, they really squeezed us with possession.”