All Black v France recap: Scott Robertson’s men fall to one-point loss in Paris

By Alex Powell

Online Sports Editor·NZ Herald·

16 Nov, 2024 11:03 PM5 mins to read

Peter Lakai is hit is a tackle during the All Blacks defeat to France in Paris. Photo / Photosport

All the action as the All Blacks continue their northern tour against Les Bleus in Paris

All Blacks v France history

Played - 63

All Blacks won - 48

France won - 14

Drawn - 1

All Blacks points scored - 1634

France points scored - 868

This will be the 10th time the two sides have met at the Stade de France with the hosts winning the last two tests in 2021 and 2023. The All Blacks haven’t beaten France in Paris since 2017. France have a chance to beat the All Blacks for a third straight time - something they’ve only achieved once in 1994 and 1995.

What happened last time?

The last time the two sides met was the opening game of the Rugby World Cup.

A cracking start to the tournament. A pinpoint across-field kick from Beauden Barrett to Mark Tele’a and the All Blacks were in after 91 seconds. The rest of the half was a tight tussle broken up by four successful penalty attempts. Down 9-8 at the break, an Ardie Savea chip and chase set up Jordan to run free and a phase later, Tele’a was in for a second thanks to a superb long pass from Richie Mo’unga. Mo’unga then made a try-saver to deny Damian Penaud in the corner and all seemed like it the All Blacks were getting on top with a 13-9 lead.

The final 25 minutes though were all France. Penaud eventually dotted down on a second attempt, Will Jordan was sent to the bin and Thomas Ramos banged over two more penalties. Just like that it was 22-13. France added a second try to hand the All Blacks their biggest World Cup defeat. France topped the group before losing to South Africa by one point in the quarter-finals.

All Blacks v France line-ups

All Blacks side:

1 Tamaiti Williams, 2 Codie Taylor, 3 Tyrel Lomax, 4 Scott Barrett (captain); 5 Tupou Vaa’i, 6 Samipeni Finau, 7 Ardie Savea, 8 Wallace Sititi, 9 Cam Roigard, 10 Beauden Barrett, 11 Caleb Clarke, 12. Jordie Barrett, 13 Rieko Ioane, 14. Sevu Reece, 15 Will Jordan

Reserves: 16 Asafo Aumua, 17 Ofa Tu’ungafasi, 18. Pasilio Tosi, 19. Patrick Tuipulotu, 20. Peter Lakai, 21 Cortez Ratima, 22. Anton Lienert-Brown, 23 Damian McKenzie

France side:

1 Jean-Baptiste Gros, 2 Peato Mauvaka, 3 Tevita Tatafu, 4 Thibaud Flament, 5 Emmanuel Meafou, 6 Paul Boudehent, 7 Alexandre Roumat, 8 Gregory Aldritt, 9 Antoine Dupont, 10 Thomas Ramos, 11 Louis Bielle-Biarrey,12 Yoram Moefana, 13 Gael Fickou, 14 Gabin Villiere, 15 Romain Buros.

Reserves: 16 Julien Marchand, 17 Reda Wardi, 18 Georges-Henri Colombe, 19 Romain Taofifenua, 20 Mickael Guillard, 21 Charles Ollivon, 22 Nolann le Garrec, 23 Emilen Gailleton.

Will the All Blacks wear black vs France?

The All Blacks will wear white in Paris on Sunday which will feature a red poppy to honour Armistice Day.

“It’s still an All Black jersey. It’s still got a silver fern and that’s all that matters to us,” Codie Taylor said.

On the poppy Taylor added:

“There were All Blacks in fought in World War I and died at war. We’ve touched on that and how special it is to honour them...we get to honour them by playing a game our nation loves with a poppy on our shoulder and acknowledge them as what they did was a lot greater than throwing around a rugby ball.”

All Blacks v France form guide (last five tests)

All Blacks: W, W, W, W, W

France: W, L, W, W, W

France are coming off a 52-12 win over Japan, their first test since July when they lost to Argentina. They finished second in the Six Nations at the start of the year including a draw with Italy and a defeat to Ireland.

All Blacks v France referee

Georgian Nika Amashukeli will take charge of the test in Paris, his third All Blacks test in 2024. The All Blacks have a 3-1 record in games with Amashukeli in the middle, the only defeat being Argentina’s 25-18 win in Christchurch two years ago. His most recent All Blacks test was the Bledisloe Cup match in Wellington in September. Amashukeli has been in the middle for two France tests - 2023 wins over Scotland and Fiji.