France enjoyed a scintillating 30-29 victory over New Zealand after trailing at half-time
Silky skills, crushing power and a ding-dong on the scoreboard lapped up by a sold-out Saturday-night crowd: this was a vintage instalment of a classic fixture that went right down to the wire.
Fabien Galthié’s side started like a speeding locomotive and thanks to a smart tap-back by Gabin Villière on the French left, they were rumbling deep into the New Zealand 22 when the prop Tevita Tatafu knocked on.Ramos, selected at fly-half alongside Dupont with the debutant Romain Buros starting at full-back, soon punished New Zealand with a penalty from halfway to open the scoring.
Scott Barrett, the All Blacks head coach, had declared their intention to spoil Dupont’s ball and the plan paid off handsomely when Cam Roigard somehow snaffled an attempted Grégory Alldritt offload intended for Dupont and raced over the try-line after a French defensive scrum. It was a sign of the visitors getting on top of their hosts at the set-piece.
Galthié may have had a fusée for his players at half-time because they were level within five minutes of the restart, the blindside flanker Paul Boudenhent touching down after a power-packed driving maul. Ramos added the extras.Then, when a New Zealand move broke down in midfield and Ramos nudged a delightful grubber kick in behind, Bielle-Biarrey’s electric pace was too much for the defensive cover.
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