France / New Zealand: the XV of France crushes the All Blacks – The HuffPost

via Associated Press

RUGBY – The XV of France won their duel with the New Zealand, triple world champion, this Saturday, November 20 at the Stade de France.

For their last of three test-matches of autumn, Blues won by an impressive 40-25. The men of Fabien Galthié, who complete their autumn tour against the All Blacks, have previously beaten Argentina (29-20) and Georgia (41-15).

Antoine Dupont, captain of the XV of France, at the microphone of France 2 welcomed: “I do not know if we realize but in any case, the sensations are there. We knew the numbers weren’t for us. Even if we were scared on the recovery, after half-time, the scenario is incredible, the score is there, at the end, with the manner. Frankly, it’s amazing. We always had this match in the back of our minds, to end this tour as an apotheosis. ”

World Cup in sight

In front of 80,000 spectators in turmoil, the Blues of Fabien Galthié struck a blow against one of the world references, less than two years from the opening match of the next World Cup (September 8 – October 28, 2023), organized in France, facing these same All Blacks.

Thanks to four tries against three opposing side, the young French (25 years old, 18 selections on average) came to the end of a team they had not dominated since June 13, 2009 and a victory in Dunedin (27- 22) during a summer tour of the Antipodes. And this with the widest gap in their history vis-à-vis the fern selection.

To find traces of a tricolor victory in front of the New Zealanders in France, it was necessary to go back much further, in 2000, when the XV of France of Bernard Laporte had won at the Stade Vélodrome in Marseille (42-33) . Coach Galthié was still the scrum half of the Blues.

The men in black, World Cup winners in 1987, 2011 and 2015, remained on fourteen consecutive victories against the French. But on Saturday evening, in front of a conquered audience who sang the Marseillaise à cappella during the hymns, they fell on a bone.

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