Kiwis level series with France

Eurosport - Sat, 20 Jun 19:29:00 2009

New Zealand levelled their two-Test series with France after a hard-fought 14-10 victory in driving rain at the Westpac Stadium in Wellington.

Ma'a Nonu - New Zealand - 0

Graham Henry's new-look side bounced back from a 27-22 defeat in last weekend's first Test with a vastly improved forward effort that prevented France from earning their first series win since 1994.

With sideways rain making life very awkward for both sides, New Zealand were never behind in the match and took the lead when Ma'a Nonu (pictured) crashed over just before the half hour.

Fly-half Stephen Donald landed two penalties for the All Blacks while his replacement Luke McAlister added another in the final quarter to give the home side some breathing space.

France fought their way back into the game with a superb individual try from wing Cedric Heymans early in the second half, which was converted by scrum-half Julien Dupuy.

Replacement Dimitri Yachvili kept France in the game with a penalty but the visitors were unable to add to their total in the final quarter.

The New Zealand forwards played with far greater intensity than during their defeat in Dunedin, with Keven Mealamu, Neemia Tialata and Brad Thorn prominent with their driving play.

Conditions made life especially difficult for the kickers and Kiwi fly-half Stephen Donald was off target with two shots on goal before a Mealamu break set up the position for New Zealand's try in 26th minute.

The Kiwi hooker broke two tackles and drove into the France defence; when the ball came back Joe Rokocoko stretched the French cover before feeding back inside for Nonu to crash over.

Donald missed the conversion but was on target with a penalty just before the interval to give the All Blacks a deserved 8-0 lead.

France made three changes to their pack at the interval and came out with more intent in the second half.

Four minutes after the break France full-back Maxime Medard made a half-break and fed Heymans wide on the left.

The Toulouse wing had little room to move in but somehow beat the tackles of Mils Muliaina, Cory Jane and two other New Zealand defenders to wend his way over for a stunning score.

Dupuy added the conversion and when, in the 68th minute, Yachvili cancelled out McAlister's penalty moments before, France had all to play for with a little over 10 minutes remaining.

Heymans, who looked threatening all match, set up their best chance of sneaking a win when he again made room down the left after being set up by Medard.

New Zealand made a mess of Heyman's chip ahead and it took an intervention from Thorn five metres from his try line to prevent Maxime Mermoz going over for the French.

Rokocoko, who was unable to convert a number of chances earlier in the game, should have put the result beyond doubt with minutes remaining but he was unable to claim Piri Weepu's chip ahead with the try-line beckoning.

Although France played better in the second half and tried gamely to pinch a victory at the end, the All Blacks held on fairly comfortably for a deserved victory.

Terence O'Rorke / Eurosport

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  1. good point skyrmel, you do earn a title not derserve­ it. With nz gettng so close on many occasions is­ frustratng, as between these cups we do really well. Im­ not 100% on my stats but as was mentioned by sean d,­ the french do seem to unerve the AB`s a bit. The name­ all blacks m beleived is to have come from a game years­ ago when the team was running roit and a commentator­ said theyre playing like "all backs", this­ was heard as all blacks and the name has stuck ever­ since. Right?. Robbie deans and Australia!, Amazing­ what lengths the Aussies will go to, to get a nose in­ front

    From richardalbrown, on Sun 21 Jun 9:07AM

  2. Eliot,

    Lets get your facts right...
    England bet New­ Zealand ONCE on the tour down under in Wellington­ 15-13.
    In actual fact England have only beaten the All­ Blacks 6 times in history.

    Thought All Blacks game­ was a good hard test match.
    Good to see All Blacks win­ a hard fought match rather than flogging a dead horse­ with tries run in from everywhere.

    No peaking between­ World Cups this time!!

    Go the All Blacks!

    From Joe, on Sun 21 Jun 2:41AM

  3. No need to take a leaf out of France's or NZ's­ book. France haven't won the WC yet. NZ have­ bottled it I don't know how many times. No leaves­ required here. I also remember England 2003 beating NZ­ twice on the trot down under.

    From Eliot, on Sun 21 Jun 12:53AM

  4. Wow, HeadCoach .... that's a big chip you've­ got there on your shoulders! The Americans call The­ Open "the British Open" to differentiate it­ from the US Open. Nothing to get huffy about :-)

    From Girl666, on Sat 20 Jun 9:58PM

  5. "Kiwi" is also a generic name for New­ Zealanders, pedantic brat 3). It is used correctly in­ the headline.

    From James W, on Sat 20 Jun 8:02PM

  6. Richardalbrown: They might win the next world cup in­ NZ providing they don't bottle it again. They will­ also have the advantage of southern hemisphers­ refereeing which leaves a lot to be desired. It was a­ bit much their complaints about a forward pass against­ France in the last world cup. Pot calling the kettle­ black.
    DoubleU

    From p.woollin041, on Sat 20 Jun 6:58PM
  7. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    Well done new zealand you beat the french at last­ nobody likes to see them win against anyone,their­ cheaters im irish.i know.they cant play rugby.

    From bren, on Sat 20 Jun 6:17PM

  8. Is nobody bothered about that dirty cheating scumbag­ Nonu headbutting the french back in the in-goal area?­ He should be cited and banned!

    From lawrence.dodd, on Sat 20 Jun 4:38PM
  9. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    French shoul've won, ABs cheated and ref was­ biased.

    Southern Hemisphere refs always bias towards­ SH teams.

    Rugby is a crock of @#$% these days

    From joestone99uk, on Sat 20 Jun 2:52PM

  10. "The world" was a magazine that used to­ sponsor the baseball league. The name just stuck.

    From mexo, on Sat 20 Jun 1:12PM

  11. richardalbrown...... 'deserved'!.... nobody­ deserves a world cup they bloody well earn it!

    From skyrmel, on Sat 20 Jun 1:09PM

  12. france always rattle the all blacks!.....

    From sean d, on Sat 20 Jun 1:07PM

  13. "Kiwis" is the term used for NZ rugby league.­ France are playing the All Blacks - NOT the Kiwis. I­ get just as upset when I hear Americans call The Open,­ "The British Open". There are only two­ 'Opens'; The Open & The US Open. When we­ first played our Open, America wasn't even born.­ (And while I'm at it, what's that 'World­ Series' all about?)

    From Head Coach D.N.R.F.C., on Sat 20 Jun 12:44PM

  14. Technically I gather that is a series win for France.­ They win the Dave Gallagher Cup because they won the­ first test by 5 points and lost the second by 4. First­ time they have won the Cup. Correct me if i am wrong on­ this anyone?

    From DAVID, on Sat 20 Jun 12:43PM

  15. As a kiwi in the UK Im glad to hear we grafted out a­ result (wont cop so much pillocking at work come­ monday) . France have a similar style of rugby to the­ kiwis which is probably why out of all or the northern­ hemishphere teams they have beaten us the most. All of­ the other six nations team should take a leaf out of­ thier book. Draw n pass, support the ball carrier and­ utilise the backs when conditions suit. Maybee the­ kiwis will get another derserved world cup next time­ round.

    From richardalbrown, on Sat 20 Jun 12:35PM
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