France v All Blacks: Five takeaways as Les Bleus confirm ‘world status’: Planet Rugby

Following France’s 30-29 win over the All Blacks, here are our five takeaways from the Autumn Nations Series match at the Stade de France.

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A frenetic Test match from start to finish, which saw France complete an unprecedented three successive wins over the All Blacks for the first time since the heroes of 1994 and 1995 set that benchmark.

It was a glorious match that lived up to the hype and the 2023 World Cup bill, with a stunning rendition of the Haka setting the tone for what was to come.

In the end, Les Blues emerged as one-point winners – it’s becoming quite a theme for the big Test in France to end that way – thanks to tries from Romain Buros, Paul Boudehent, Louis Bielle-Biarrey and an immaculate kicking display and 15 – point distance from Thomas Ramos.

The All Blacks, who have now lost four of their thirteen Tests under Scott Robertson, fought bravely and looked on track to continue their unbeaten streak with tries from Peter Lakai and Cameron Roigard, but ultimately fell short to a passionate Les Blues -team.

Overall, it was a wonderful spectacle befitting the magnificent Stade de France as both sides threw everything at each other and the match was decided by the narrowest of margins.

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France is regaining its world-class status

Fabien Galthie and his team are receiving a lot of justified criticism for not selecting their star players during the mid-year international matches, and perhaps fairly so even with the ridiculous length of the French Top 14.

This led many fans and pundits from the southern hemisphere to undermine their world-class status and their position in the top five countries in international rugby, simply because we have not seen the best of France since last year’s World Cup until now .

Much of that has to do with the fact that their talisman Antoine Dupont has only played his first major international of the year so far, but also with the indifferent performance of the men in blue in 2024.

However, today they set a milestone with their win over Test rugby kings New Zealand as they matched them blow for blow and landed the final uppercut to knock the men in black to the canvas.

Still, it was far from a flawless performance from Les Blues, but the mark of a great team is not playing at your best and still winning – just ask the Springboks who have done just that over the past fortnight. Their scrum was dismantled – more on that later – as they were beaten by the brilliant New Zealand halfbacks. But the French got the ‘W’ thanks to their astonishing ability to create something from nothing and also a bit of ingenuity.

So much credit should go to their pocket rocket speedster Bielle-Biarrey, who was sublime throughout the match and provided his side with the game-changing x-factor that was sorely needed when Damian Penaud was on the sidelines, while the strikers’ coaches deserved a pat on the back Bodehent’s try built momentum and was the catalyst for the win.

Cam Roigard locks down starting role despite early hook

If it wasn’t clear yet, it is now: Cameron Roigard is Aaron Smith’s successor and there is no more debate about it. Cortez Ratima impressed during the Rugby Championship with eye-catching performances, but Roigard has produced services on par with All Blacks’ greatest ever number nine Smith and is only just getting started after a long injury lay-off.

Today he was tasked with going up against the best scrum-half in the business, Antoine Dupont, and for much of the match the young All Black was the most influential and frankly better performer in the match. That’s not to say Dupont had a bad game, it’s more that the New Zealander had a stormer. His serve was fast, his instincts were sharp and his decision-making was top-notch. It was a feast for the eyes.

As his platoon increased the pressure on the French attackers, Roigard pounced on Gregory Alldritt – one of the best number eights in the game – and somehow managed to perform a half tackle on him before he intercepted his pass to Dupont and muscled his way for a try that put New Zealand in a fantastic position.

There will be plenty of ifs, buts and maybes from the All Blacks during their performance in Paris, but the one that will stick in the minds of most fans will be: ‘What if Roigard wasn’t hooked so early in the second half?’

The use of the bench was a major theme during the November internationals and today you can’t help but feel that Robertson made a big mistake by calling Roigard’s number so early in the second half when the number nine played such a great match.

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The All Blacks pack is up to the challenge

This writer wouldn’t be surprised if Tamaiti Williams and Tyrel Lomax were to get the nod from the billionaire Top 14 owners present at today’s match after hammering Les Bleus in the scrums. Lomax has proven himself as one of the best props in the game over the past eighteen months, if not longer, but Williams has enjoyed a meteoric rise this year thanks to an excellent 2023.

The pair have been sensational in all facets of the game and could well command absurd Euro figures despite being named in their respective Super Rugby Pacific squads this week.

As they went about their business, beating the likes of Jean-Baptiste Gros, Tevita Tatafu, George-Henri Colombe and Reda Wardi in the scrums, the rest of the pack also stepped up, with Ardie Savea once again keeping an eye on things as Lakai really impressed in front of a ferocious French eight and baying crowd.

What’s to come

Scott Robertson’s first season as new All Blacks head coach ends next week in Italy as New Zealand take on the Azzurri and look to end a long international season on a high. We can expect Razor to make several changes to the encounter, but it won’t be to undermine the Azzurri but to reward the players in his squad who have been pushing for minutes all year.

Meanwhile, France ends the year with a game against an Argentinian team that pushed Ireland to the limit on Friday evening. It has been a challenging year for Les Blues, marred by off-field controversy and disappointing performances in the Six Nations, but Galthie will be determined to end on a high.

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