They shone at the Stade de France. The players of the French XV defeated the All Blacks (27-13) on Friday September 8 during the first match of the Rugby World Cup. After an opening ceremony designed by Jean Dujardin with the theme of France of yesteryear, a dream poster waited for the public to officially launch the competition. This opening match was mainly focused on details, between a spectacular French team of recent years and the All Blacks, three-time world champions. – but which are undoubtedly less frightening than in previous editions. This life is now over.
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Notable absences, but the confidence remains. The France XV lost a number of key players in the pre-season, starting with flyhalf Romain Ntamack, who suffered a serious knee injury and was out of the entire competition. Prop Cyril Baille (calf), second row Paul Willemse (thigh) and center Jonathan Danty (hamstring) are also missing against the All Blacks, but should be able to play in the rest of this World Cup. That said, even without these executives, the French team has made a strong impression in recent weeks, most notably in its stunning win (41-17) against Australia in the final pre-season match.
The countries in the Southern Hemisphere are (almost) no longer scary. EnterIn 2012 and 2019, the Blues won just two of their 23 matches against the three major countries of the southern hemisphere (Australia, New Zealand and South Africa). But since 2021 and the arrival of Fabien Galthié on the French bench, the trend has completely reversed (which also applies to other European countries): five wins in seven games.
A long awaited haka. It was just after the national anthem, the first kick-off of the match, when the New Zealanders performed this ritual dance, which can have a destabilizing effect on the opponent. There is no doubt that the Blues have reflected on their stance at this very important moment. “We try to challenge, at least through the look, to show that we are in the game and that we are ready to take on the challenge.”, advises former international Vincent Clerc on Franceinfo Sport, who has known a few. However, the New Zealanders sang their haka without their captain, Sam Crane, who was withdrawn from this match.
Cooling breaks during matches. While Ile-de-France is on heatwave orange alert, the seven matches played this opening weekend of the World Cup will be marked by weather that will allow the players to drink. These refreshment breaks take place during a normal stoppage in play. “The process is managed by the referee”, World Rugby, the organizing body, reports in a press release. The thermometer will approach 30°C when France-New Zealand starts.
