All Blacks v France: what you need to know about tonight's test season opener
Kick-off: 7:05pm Saturday 5 July
Forsyth Barr Stadium, Dunedin
Live blog updates on RNZ
After a long and intriguing Super Rugby Pacific season, we've finally arrived at the first test of the year. Scott Robertson's All Blacks take on an unknown quantity in France in front of a full house under the roof at Forsyth Barr Stadium, with the head coach making some interesting selections for this one.
France come in after winning this year's Six Nations tournament. However, their last game was back in March and while it was a comfortable win over Scotland, Fabien Galthié's side is much changed since then.
Scott Robertson.
Photo:
Alan Lee / www.photosport.nz
All Blacks:
1. Ethan de Groot, 2. Codie Taylor, 3. Fletcher Newell, 4. Scott Barrett, 5. Fabian Holland, 6. Tupou Vaa'i, 7. Ardie Savea, 8, Christian Lio-Willie, 9. Cameron Roigard, 10. Beauden Barrett, 11. Rieko Ioane, 12. Jordie Barrett, 13. Billy Proctor, 14. Sevu Reece, 15. Will Jordan
Bench: 16. Samisoni Taukei'aho, 17. Ollie Norris, 18. Pasilio Tosi, 19. Samipeni Finau, 20. Du'Plessis Kirifi, 21. Cortez Ratima, 22. Quinn Tupaea, 23. Damian McKenzie
France:
1. Giorgi Beria, 2. Gaetan Garlot, 3. Rabah Slimani, 4. Hugo Auradou, 5. Tyler Duguid, 6. Alexandre Fischer, 7. Killian Tixeront, 8. Mickael Guillard, 9. Nolann Le Garrec, 10. Joris Segonds, 11. Gabin Villiere, 12. Gaël Fickou (c), 13. Emilien Gailleton, 14. Tom Spring, 15. Theo Attissogbe
Bench: 16. Pierre Bourgarit, 17. Paul Mallez, 18. Regis Montagne, 19. Romain Taofifenua, 20. Cameron Woki, 21. Jacobus van Tonder, 22. Baptiste Jauneau, 23. Antoine Hastoy
Fabian Holland.
Photo:
Joe Toth/ActionPress
A lot to unpack here, with Robertson surprisingly making some big moves for this selection. Fabian Holland goes straight into the starting second row on debut, while Christian Lio-Willie will be right behind him in the scrum for his first test too. Beauden Barrett gets the starting 10 jersey, while Billy Proctor is rewarded for an excellent Hurricanes season with a start at centre. That moves Rieko Ioane back out to the wing, a position he hasn't started in since 2021. On the bench Ollie Norris and Du'Plessis Kirifi will debut at prop and loose forward, while Quinn Tupaea will complete his long road back to the All Blacks when he is injected into the game.
Theo Attissogbe for the France XV.
Photo:One third of the French starting team are playing their first test match: Giorgi Beria, Tyler Duguid, Alexandre Fischer, Joris Segonds and Tom Spring. If Spring doesn't sound like a typical French name, it's because his father is New Zealander Sean Spring, who moved to France to play rugby in the 1990s. Veteran Gaël Fickou's 94 caps make up about half of the total experience in the side, while Cameron Woki and Rabah Slimani are the others who have played the All Blacks before.
Maxime Medard celebrates victory over the All Blacks, Carisbrook, Dunedin, 2009.
Photo:
Simon Watts/Photosport
France have won the last three tests between the two sides, which equals their best streak achieved in 1994-95.
The All Blacks' largest victory over France was notably in a World Cup elimination match. Not only was the 62-13 win a record between the two countries, it was also the All Blacks' highest score at the 2015 tournament - quite a feat considering they also played Georgia and Uruguay in pool play.
France's last win in New Zealand was in Dunedin, at the old Carisbrook ground in 2009.
"We expect everything from them. Nothing has changed since the end-of-year tour to the Six Nations; the style they play remains the same. They're a very good territory team; they put pressure on you, keep you in your back fence as much as possible, and force errors. They're highly disciplined." - All Black coach Scott Robertson.
"Finding players for the summer tours is a challenge we've been facing for six years. I said to all the players, 'The challenge seems impossible to achieve, are you in?' and everyone who's there said yes." - France coach Fabien Galthié.
France 30 - 29 All Blacks
A heartbreaking loss to France ruined what was looking like a really successful run for the All Blacks on last year's northern tour. They held what should've been a match winning lead, then took a few wrong options at the business end to see the game slip through their fingers in what might be a pivotal moment in the team's World Cup cycle in terms of lessons learnt. However, due to the almost complete rotation of the French side, this game has almost zero bearing on what will happen tonight.
The All Blacks will win comfortably. At least they had better, because otherwise it's going to be a tough time next week if they don't. Their intention, according to the coaching staff, is to play as fast as possible - so hopefully the officials play their part in that happening. France's best chance is to simply kick the ball into All Black territory and try and keep them there, but the amount of inexperience out there should mean they will give away plenty of ball and penalties.
It will be interesting to see how much of a license Rieko Ioane has, given that he was an out and out finisher, but the role of All Black wingers lately has been to get involved in carrying close to the ruck area.
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