France vs All Blacks (21/11/21) 09.00am NZDT @ Stade de France, Paris

[Vieux Talonneur]

Well done Fra.

Not a vintage AB team but a big, confidence boosting, result for Fra. They're going to be a tough nut to crack on home soil in 23.

 

[RugbyTackle91]

As impressive as France and Ireland were NZ are still the team to beat for me. I know some may have doubts over Foster and stuff but its NZ.

The World Cup is still a long way off as well.

Well of course they are for Wales

 

[Leonormous Boozer]

Unbelievable. France ran them off their feet.

NZ losing to two in a row to very different styles is crazy. NH rugby is looking in decent nick all of a sudden.

 

[LeinsterMan (NotTigsMan)]

Honestly makes me want to go to the French World Cup even if I don't have any tickets

 

[UlsterRugby2012]

As impressive as France and Ireland were NZ are still the team to beat for me. I know some may have doubts over Foster and stuff but its NZ.

The World Cup is still a long way off as well.

Depends. If Ireland or France played NZ next week I think both teams would win again. After NZ get a few months rest? Then yeah I think it would be an entirely different prospect but even then I don't think they would get 2 wins from 2.

 

[Welsh Exile]

Depends. If Ireland or France played NZ next week I think both teams would win again. After NZ get a few months rest? Then yeah I think it would be an entirely different prospect.

Yeah it's hard to say. It's NZ though. I know my opinion is largely based on decades of not even being able to get close to them while other teams beat them but their record over the last century speaks for itself imo.

Maybe Foster isn't the guy and they'll regress but I'm not sure about that.

 

[Jsbagoee]

Mental strong in french team. Good game. Rare emotions . Thank you rugby!!

 

[Bluemoon]

A classic match that. It had everything. The break from Ntamack from his own tryline was French rugby liquified. Building on this; they are going to be incredibly hard to beat at their own World Cup. I imagine Paris will be a great place to be tonight.

 

[Jsbagoee]

Live from Paris: beaujolais starts flooding !!!

 

[Leonormous Boozer]

Honestly makes me want to go to the French World Cup even if I don't have any tickets

I have tickets for both the A v B QFs. Going to be unbelievable!

 

[NZbloke]

France certainly deserved the win.

The forward work by the ABs was awful in the 1st half, similar to how we played last week against Ireland - for 20 odd minutes in the 2nd half we finally decided to do the hard yakka in the forwards, taking the ball up with urgency & cleaning well, getting us over the advantage, giving our backs time & space to attack, which got us back in the game... then we gave an idiotic intercept try away deep in our half, game over.

Our tactics were poor, it's was so thick for us again to consistently use up & unders to try & counter the rushing defence, we had stuff all variation in our attack.

France haven't beaten us for yonks, so hopefully this loss makes the NZRU give Foster the flick, the players have to take some blame too, but if you have a poor coach all that crap tends to filter through the whole team... playing rubbish this this we have no chance of winning the next RWC, therefore we have nothing to lose by replacing Foster with Robertson, who actually has a very good coaching brain.

 

[miccloarch]

This result is just LOL. Utterly embarrassing, and it could have been worse. France could have scored a couple more tries.

Good response in the 2nd half to get the score to 27-25 but then it was all downhill again from there. Surely, surely this is the beginning of the end for Foster. Razor! Razor! Razor!

 

[NZbloke]

One step doesn't make a player. There have been loads of players with great highlight reels who are, in reality, fairly mediocre.

With a silly comment like that looks like you haven't seen him play at all.

 

[ChicagoKid]

This result is just LOL. Utterly embarrassing, and it could have been worse. France could have scored a couple more tries.

Good response in the 2nd half to get the score to 27-25 but then it was all downhill again from there. Surely, surely this is the beginning of the end for Foster. Razor! Razor! Razor!

Y'all just resigned Foster through the World Cup. Does NZRU have the funds to pay him out and hire another coach?

Giving him the extension before playing the Boks and Autumn Internationals was very odd.

 

[LeinsterMan (NotTigsMan)]

Last time Aus, SA and NZ lost on the same day England won the next RWC

 

[Leonormous Boozer]

Last time Aus, SA and NZ lost on the same day England won the next RWC

But the team that beat the current champs went out in the QF...

 

[87Dreamer]

The Entire "Old boys club" Running NZR, need to GTFO tbh.
Signing Foster who has won absolutely nothing in his HC career is just a massive f'n balls up.
Team has no urgency or direction, linespeed is disjointed and inaccurate, breakdowns are a mess, Tactical kicking is horrible. Haven't had anyone good under the highball since Ben Smith.
Jordie is a **** FB, Your best FB is on the wing, Your best Winger is playing Centre. Your best 7 is playing 8.
Cane, Whitelock and Moody are well past it.
Just plain bad really

 

[Umaga's Witness]

Yeah it's hard to say. It's NZ though. I know my opinion is largely based on decades of not even being able to get close to them while other teams beat them but their record over the last century speaks for itself imo.

Maybe Foster isn't the guy and they'll regress but I'm not sure about that.

there's not much reason to expect the all blacks to continue their dominance. This current generation of players hasn't grown with a culture of people who care about rugby, they haven't played rugby in the schoolyard or the backyard like they used to. We no longer have a style starkly different from the northern hemisphere. We don't have the same money in the system as france and england . The northern hemisphere has been improving as Southern Hemisphere coaches and players have gone north over the last twenty years, combining Southern Hemisphere skills and styles with that of the northern hemisphere, plus money fueled professionalism. The player base in NZ has gone down, although our pacific population has increased significantly which I'm sure will keep us competitive at the top level for some time to come. Competitive doesn't mean dominant though.

Our dominance over the past twenty years was due to us being most well equipped for professional rugby, having already had a number of coaches with innovative and professional approaches in the amateur days, and players who had grown up in a rugby dominant culture which disappeared with the advent of professionalism meaning the majority of people stopped watching rugby because they had to pay for it, and with the internet age there became a greater variety of ways people could feel part of a community. In all tier one nations professional rugby has been around for long enough now that the top players, while in school, would have been working on their skill sets with the idea that they could play rugby professionally. So the skill gap is no longer there.

 

[Kiwiwomble]

Wow, France pretty much faultless and winning with amazing positive rugby

Think the whole game turned on that counter from their own in goal, what should have been an attack scrum for us if we'd managed to tackle ended with being down a man and down another 3 points, killed the momentum we were building

Big take away for the abs for me was the confusion in the backline, so many time we changed directions behind the breakdown giving defense time to come up…at one point when on attack in the second half, smith goes left…Richie steps back behind and tries to go right and passes to Quinn…who then steps left and tries to go that was again! Shocking

Amazing results for world rugby but worrying for rugby in Nz which I feel is struggling with engagement, we've put all our eggs in the ab basket…and that might bite us

 

[Umaga's Witness]

With a silly comment like that looks like you haven't seen him play at all.

I agree with the (point of the) comment and I've watched every game of professional rugby he has played.