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Ian Foster: France 'squeezed' All Blacks in 'see-sawing game'
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.
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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.”
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Rugby World Cup
Pool A
P
W
L
D
PF
PA
PD
BP T
BP-7
BP
Total
1
France
1
1
0
0
4
2
Italy
0
0
0
0
0
3
Namibia
0
0
0
0
0
4
Uruguay
0
0
0
0
0
5
New Zealand
1
0
1
0
0
Pool B
P
W
L
D
PF
PA
PD
BP T
BP-7
BP
Total
1
Ireland
0
0
0
0
0
2
Romania
0
0
0
0
0
3
Scotland
0
0
0
0
0
4
South Africa
0
0
0
0
0
5
Tonga
0
0
0
0
0
Pool C
P
W
L
D
PF
PA
PD
BP T
BP-7
BP
Total
1
Australia
0
0
0
0
0
2
Fiji
0
0
0
0
0
3
Georgia
0
0
0
0
0
4
Portugal
0
0
0
0
0
5
Wales
0
0
0
0
0
Pool D
P
W
L
D
PF
PA
PD
BP T
BP-7
BP
Total
1
Argentina
0
0
0
0
0
2
Chile
0
0
0
0
0
3
England
0
0
0
0
0
4
Japan
0
0
0
0
0
5
Samoa
0
0
0
0
0
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.
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“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.”
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)
41 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.
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.
41 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.
41 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 comments