France 40-25 New Zealand: Hosts beat All Blacks for first time since 2009

2 years ago 41

ARTICLE AD BOX

Damian Penaud dives over the tryline for France

France: (24) 40
Tries: Mauvaka 2, Ntamack, Penaud Pens: Jaminet 4 Cons: Jaminet 4
New Zealand: (6) 25
Tries: J Barrett, R Ioane, Savea Pens: J Barrett 2 Cons: J Barrett 2

France held off a resurgent New Zealand to beat the All Blacks for the first time since 2009 in a Paris thriller.

First-half tries from Peato Mauvaka and Romain Ntamack gave Les Bleus an unexpected 24-6 lead at the break.

The All Blacks, who lost to Ireland last weekend, fought back to trail by two points with 20 minutes remaining.

But an incredible Ntamack counter-attack followed by Damian Penaud's interception try sealed a historic win for the hosts.

France will face New Zealand at the Stade de France, where they had previously not beaten the All Blacks since 1973, in the opening game of the 2023 World Cup.

It is now New Zealand who will have sour memories of the venue after suffering back-to-back defeats for only the second time in a decade.

The visitors looked set for a comeback when Jordie Barrett went over in the left corner after 46 minutes and Rieko Ioane crossed four minutes later.

Full-back Melvyn Jaminet - who in total kicked 20 points for the hosts - extended France's lead to 27-18 with a penalty before Ardie Savea added a third try and Barrett's conversion cut Les Bleus' advantage to two.

But France were reborn once more as Ntamack, returning at fly-half having previously played centre, bravely ran the ball out from behind his own try-line.

The move eventually led to a French penalty as Savea was sin-binned. Jaminet claimed the three points before Penaud's try shortly after meant New Zealand had suffered a rare two defeats in a row.

"It's a wonderful night," player of the match Gregory Alldritt told Amazon Prime.

"For a lot of us it was our first game against the All Blacks. It was a dream for us. We played with everything we had."