The All Blacks worked hard to claim a 34-32 victory over France. The game was pure entertainment from start to finish. France scored early on and despite having a man in the sinbin for that early period, the All Blacks were able to get on the scoreboard.
The All Black scored a total of five tries, with three coming in the first half, the last of which came in the closing minutes to give them a lead into the break.
France scored with two minutes to go which brought the match within two points, but the All Blacks had enought to hold on against them.
All Blacks player ratings
Ethan De Groot- 7
Some really positive carrying and knocked the ball over the line just before half-time. The scrum was a solid platform for the All Blacks, with not much gained or lost either way.
Codie Taylor- 5
Taylor made a few uncharacteristic mistakes, particularly at the lineout in the first half but was unable
Fletcher Newell- 7
Newell was solid in defence, making 13 tackles in the game. 10 in the first half was the joint-most completed on the pitch. The scrum was solid, and he did his job well on the pitch.
Josh Lord- 6
A solid performance where he threw himself at the contact on both sides of the ball. His second row partner outshone him slightly, and there was nothing standout from the lock to shout about.
Sam Darry- 8
Darry was fantastic. His work rate was unbelievable, and he made more tackles than anyone else on the pitch.
Peter Lakai- 6
Lakai scored the second try for the All Blacks and showed some great combination work on the blindside with Caleb Clarke. Was subbed early in the second half for Wallace Sititi.
Luke Jacobson- 8
A few early errors, with a poor pass killing a counter-attack and several penalties in the first 15 minutes. He pulled off a fantastic offload to send Will Jordan over in the corner. His second-half work rate was unmatched.
Ardie Savea- 7
Quick thinking from a penalty tap helped the All Blacks score in the corner for their first of the match. He kept the tempo of the game up with brilliant work around ruck-time. He won two turnovers and made a huge 13 carries, more than any other All Blacks player.
Backs
Cam Roigard- 9
Clever snipe around the corner on the mark of half-time set the All Blacks into a halftime lead.
An excellent inside line saw him score the first try for the All Blacks in the second half.
Ruben Love- 7
Love was handed the keys in the first game under Dave Rennie, and it couldn’t have started much worse. He was yellow-carded for a high tackle in the build-up to the first try of the game within 90 seconds.
His lightning-quick step was able to put the All Blacks on the front foot throughout.
Caleb Clarke- 6.5
A great piece of combination work on the wing with Peter Lakai led to the second All Blacks try. Was relatively quiet compared to his other wing counterpart.
Jordie Barrett- 7
Slowed his pace well to provide an excellent offload for Cam Roigard to give the All Blacks the lead again in the second half.
Quinn Tupaea- 6
Tupaea made some solid carries but also didn’t seem to find connections with the rest of the back line. Missed three tackles and was subbed early in the second half for Billy Proctor.
Will Jordan- 8
Jordan scored the first try for the All Blacks under Dave Rennie with a great finish in the corner. Scored a great try linking up with Luke Jacobson with 10 minutes to go, which put the All Blacks nine points ahead.
Damian McKenzie- 5
An uncharacteristic performance with plenty of mistakes. We didn’t get to see much of his attacking play. Some loose passes and offloads, without getting to see the attacking return that we normally do with McKenzie.
