Phil Gifford: The All Black who bettered the world’s best in Paris defeat

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THREE KEY FACTS
A round of applause for All Blacks coach Scott Robertson, who perfectly summed up the nerve-wracking 30-29 loss to France in Paris by saying: “Test footy comes down to, as we know [from] all this year, just a little bit of a moment.”

The All Blacks didn’t
have quite as many moments as they needed to complete what would have been a highly impressive hat-trick in the north.

Early in the test the French looked ragged and running short of energy. But, if you’ve watched the French over the years, you’ll know they can win when it seems impossible.
There was no sweeping, daring try that sealed victory this time. Instead, there was a French lineout that went from being embarrassingly outclassed in the first half, to fully functional in the second.
There were flashes of French attacking genius, but mostly the win was down to grimly determined defence, and stellar goal-kicking by Thomas Ramos, whose flawless kicking made him my man of the match
With hindsight the “little bit of a moment” for New Zealand in Paris came in the 72nd minute when a Foul Play Review Officer, an Englishman called Ian Tempest, ruled that Ofa Tu’ungafasi was guilty of applying a head roll in a maul. The resulting penalty for France stretched the lead to 30-26, a step too far for New Zealand.
I don’t think Tempest was right. And what Tu’ungafasi did certainly wasn’t so egregious or dangerous that the fifth man on the officiating totem pole deserved to have his say ahead of the referee, Nika Amashukeli, the two assistant referees, and the television match official.
But nothing’s going to change the result now, and instead of labouring the point I’ll take a good sportsmanship hint from coach Robertson, when he said: “We didn’t do enough tonight.”
A national cycling coach once described one of his braver riders as “basically a rib cage with a massive heart beating inside it”.
You could have said exactly the same of Ardie Savea in Paris. For 78 minutes he’d run with fierce purpose, tackled relentlessly, and constantly fought for the ball at breakdowns.
Who knows where he then found the energy to race back 60 metres to thwart a potential try for France’s flying wing, Louis Bielle-Biarrey, in the 79th minute? In a test that had a good share of exciting moments, Savea’s rescue effort was a highlight.
“Antoine Dupont was outplayed for most of the first half” are words I’d never expected to be writing. But that’s what halfback Cam Roigard actually managed in Paris.
Dupont, a once-in-a-generation superstar, found his feet as the game wore on, but for speed of delivery, and quick thinking, the first 30 minutes belonged to 24th-birthday boy, Roigard. His career progression now will be fascinating.
All Blacks flanker Peter Lakai opened with a roar when he was subbed on for a sadly groggy-looking Samipeni Finau, scoring a try in the eighth minute. What was just as impressive was the way Lakai then buckled down to the hard work needed as the French regrouped.
At just 21, Lakai is one of the hugely promising forwards who have played their way into All Blacks contention this year. He’s definitely part of a new wave that will carry through to the next World Cup in 2027.
It would be a mistake, which I don’t believe the All Blacks will make, to see the test this weekend against Italy in Turin as a formality. It’s true that only the sadly inept Welsh keep Italy from being at the bottom of the Six Nations table. But it’s worth keeping in mind that in February in Lille, only a last-gasp missed conversion denied Italy victory over France. You don’t draw 13-all with France if you’re easybeats.
Hopefully keeping the All Blacks’ minds on track for the Italian game is a job that might just be made to measure for a master motivator like Robertson.
Paul Lewis was 100% right when he wrote that the new law banning defenders from obstructing a player chasing a high kick would have unintended consequences.
Under the new rule, Codie Taylor was penalised in Paris for not moving out of the way of a French chaser. Taylor had not deviated into the path of the Frenchman. In fact, unless Taylor had (a) eyes in the back of his head or (b) a magic power that allowed him to dematerialise at will, he couldn’t have got out of the way. It makes kicking hopeful bombs into opposition territory a much more attractive proposition.
It’s also a reminder that a new World Rugby regime with a plan to make the game more attacking and attractive to watch, with more running and less kicking, can’t come soon enough.

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