A melting public. Outpourings. It all ended on a wire but on the right side. At the cost of fierce defense, the Blues held their success this Saturday evening in Saint-Denis against the New Zealanders who believed for a moment that they were superior. For one point (30-29), the Tricolores proved them wrong.
The luminous haka, sparkling under the spotlights, had however faded like a harbinger under an almost full moon. These All Blacks in white jerseys first took on the Blues head-on. More tonic, sharper, they also dominated the static phases. More powerful in the scrum, better coordinated in touch, the Pacific players quickly put their hands on the match, leaving only a few crumbs for the Tricolores who above all warded off the most pressing.
We could feel Antoine Dupont impatient, getting on his feet as soon as the ball approached his range. This XV of France, which had wandered a week earlier on this same lawn against weak Japanese (52-12), did not appear amorphous, far from it, but, ball in hand, it came up against a defense that knew how to read its game in a basic way.
The opponent didn’t make any frills either, playing close to the groupings, refusing to play out wide, no doubt for fear of the Habs’ murderous counterattacks. Few risks therefore, few rides, few cavalcades. A test of strength and it must be admitted, a few lost balls. This is why this pivotal evening for the Blues, this desire for celebration from a white-hot audience ready to shout, was gradually diluted in the helplessness of Dupont and his gang.
Third victory in a row against the All Blacks, a first in 30 years!
The French captain even suffered from the comparison with his opposite number Cameron Roigard, both active and efficient and author of the New Zealanders’ second try shortly before the half-hour mark. Romain Buros’ try after several finally sustained waves had the merit of keeping his teammates in the race (10-17 at half-time).
The beautiful face of the Blues was therefore reserved for the second act. Fabien Galthié’s men did what they do best. Resist, really this time, and create joyful disorder among the opponent with each ball recovered. The plan worked wonderfully, with the All Blacks making it easier for them by continuing to play their restrictive rugby. Paul Boudehent on a penetrating maul then Louis Bielle-Biarrey, scoring like an arrow a try against allowed them to turn the tide in ten minutes (24-17, 51st). Enough to wake up the stands, throw olas, Marseillaises, boost pride.
Nothing better than a new success – the third in a row after the 40-25 in 2021 and the 27-13 at the opening of the World Cup in 2023, a performance achieved only once until then between 1994 and 1995 – against these players that we freeze a little quickly in the legend to approach the end of the tour, and the final test against Argentina on this same lawn next Friday. And above all, enough to attack the next Six Nations Tournament with new assurances. Because since the elimination in the quarter-final of the World Cup by South Africa (28-29), the Blues, it is true deprived of their captain Antoine Dupont who left to live his Olympic dream with the French team at 7, have never really convinced. A largely failed Tournament, a tour to Argentina last July marked by the Jaminet and Auradou-Jegou affairs… There was an urgent need to restore the blue image. It’s done.
