2025 All Blacks v France series
-
Imagine it will be a very similar team for the second game. Maybe Clarke comes in for Reece and possibly a change or two on the bench depending on injuries. Don't think Vaa'i is the answer at 6 but sounds like Razor will persist for these three Tests.
@Mr-Fish said in 2025 All Blacks v France series:
Imagine it will be a very similar team for the second game. Maybe Clarke comes in for Reece and possibly a change or two on the bench depending on injuries. Don't think Vaa'i is the answer at 6 but sounds like Razor will persist for these three Tests.
I’d give Narawa a run on the right wing.
-
I haven't read the match thread but if SB's achilles is a problem, and Vaa'i has a sore shoulder there might be injury-enforced changes in the forwards. I'd like Narawa to get a go on the right wing.
-
4- Tuipoluto
5- Holland
6- Finau
7- Savea
8- CLWGulp.
Shrink appointments in NZ will skyrocket!
@ACT-Crusader Only Tuipulotu should be starting from that mob. Papalii would add some starch to that garbage loose trio.
-
CLW was ok, but Finau was pretty anonymous again tonight I thought, not sure he deserves another go
-
CLW was ok, but Finau was pretty anonymous again tonight I thought, not sure he deserves another go
@Darth-Sader said in 2025 All Blacks v France series:
CLW was ok
Yep, as a grafter he was fine. Carried okay. Looked like he was involved frequently. Fucking low bar. Still a lot better than the other clowns.
-
CLW hit the tackle pretty hard and slowed down plenty of French ball. Thought he was very effective.
He even did a Kaino on Digny Ioane to one of the Frenchies.
If it was based on performance alone, they probably should’ve kept CLW on and replaced Ardie.
-
CLW hit the tackle pretty hard and slowed down plenty of French ball. Thought he was very effective.
He even did a Kaino on Digny Ioane to one of the Frenchies.
If it was based on performance alone, they probably should’ve kept CLW on and replaced Ardie.
@ACT-Crusader I will watch a replay.
-
@Darth-Sader said in 2025 All Blacks v France series:
CLW was ok
Yep, as a grafter he was fine. Carried okay. Looked like he was involved frequently. Fucking low bar. Still a lot better than the other clowns.
-
I thought CLW was good - not sure he'll compete with the bigger loosies around the world but he did well in his first outing.
Narawa is only injury cover so would be surprised if he gets a run ahead of Reece, Clarke, Ioane or even potentially Love. Would like to see it though.
-
CLW hit the tackle pretty hard and slowed down plenty of French ball. Thought he was very effective.
He even did a Kaino on Digny Ioane to one of the Frenchies.
If it was based on performance alone, they probably should’ve kept CLW on and replaced Ardie.
@ACT-Crusader said in 2025 All Blacks v France series:
CLW hit the tackle pretty hard and slowed down plenty of French ball. Thought he was very effective.
He even did a Kaino on Digny Ioane to one of the Frenchies.
If it was based on performance alone, they probably should’ve kept CLW on and replaced Ardie.
Completely agree. That was a good debut.
He did fade in the 2nd half but that's Completely normal on debut.
But he was very good in the first 40.
-
I thought CLW was good - not sure he'll compete with the bigger loosies around the world but he did well in his first outing.
Narawa is only injury cover so would be surprised if he gets a run ahead of Reece, Clarke, Ioane or even potentially Love. Would like to see it though.
-
I can't seriously say any of it was good except for Holland.
It was France C.
The rugby was helter skelter and lacked composure.
The width game isn't working so far . We're running around like headless chooks at a million miles an hour and then making bad decisions.
We turned the ball over 16 times to their 12. Given the amount of test experience we have compared to them, and that it was a home game, it was poor.
The support play was poor. It was more of the same we saw last year against France and South Africa.
Let's not forget we were playing a scratch team of noobs and journeymen and barely got the job done.
-
I can't seriously say any of it was good except for Holland.
It was France C.
The rugby was helter skelter and lacked composure.
The width game isn't working so far . We're running around like headless chooks at a million miles an hour and then making bad decisions.
We turned the ball over 16 times to their 12. Given the amount of test experience we have compared to them, and that it was a home game, it was poor.
The support play was poor. It was more of the same we saw last year against France and South Africa.
Let's not forget we were playing a scratch team of noobs and journeymen and barely got the job done.
-
@brodean said in 2025 All Blacks v France series:
We turned the ball over 16 times to their 12
12 seems like a lot of times to turn over the ball for a team with fuck all possession and no BB/WJ.
@Bones said in 2025 All Blacks v France series:
@brodean said in 2025 All Blacks v France series:
We turned the ball over 16 times to their 12
12 seems like a lot of times to turn over the ball for a team with fuck all possession and no BB/WJ.
27 points seems a lot of points for a team to concede when they have 62% possession.
That try Gulliard scored was soft as butter. They made a break and we can only defend 1 forward carry close to the line before he powers over.
-
@Bones said in 2025 All Blacks v France series:
@brodean said in 2025 All Blacks v France series:
We turned the ball over 16 times to their 12
12 seems like a lot of times to turn over the ball for a team with fuck all possession and no BB/WJ.
27 points seems a lot of points for a team to concede when they have 62% possession.
That try Gulliard scored was soft as butter. They made a break and we can only defend 1 forward carry close to the line before he powers over.
-
According to Chat GTP these were the key stats from the game:
Here are the key match stats from the All Blacks vs France test held on 5 July 2025 at Forsyth Barr Stadium, Dunedin:
⸻
Match Overview
• Final Score: New Zealand 31–27 France  
• Possession: All Blacks ~63%, France ~37% ()
• Territory: France controlled ~61%, with All Blacks around 39% ⸻
Phase StatsCategory New Zealand France
Carries 188 96 ()
Metres Gained ~450 m post-contact + 450 m carries ≈ 900 m ~208 m post-contact + fewer carries ≈ 300 m ()
Clean Breaks 9 4 ()
Defenders Beaten 270 129 ()
Offloads 97 49 ()
Passes 1,580 698 ()⸻
️ Defence & Discipline
• Tackles Made: NZ 112, France 207 
• Tackle Completion: NZ 90%, France 86% 
• Turnovers Lost: NZ 15, France 13 ()
• Turnovers Won: NZ 4, France 6 
• Penalties Conceded: NZ 9, France 13 
• Scrum Success: NZ 75–100%, France 100% 
• Lineout Success: NZ 91%, France 75% ⸻
🧠 Tactical Reflections
• Discipline & Territory: Despite dominating possession, the All Blacks were repeatedly pinned back due to France’s dominance in kicking and territory (61% vs 39%), plus superior discipline around the breakdown .
• Physicality: France’s aggressive defence resulted in significantly more dominant tackles and turnovers, keeping NZ under constant pressure ().⸻
🧾 Summary
• The All Blacks enjoyed more possession (63%) and attempted nearly double the carries (188 vs 96), but were out-terrained (39% vs 61%) due to territorial kicks and penalties.
• France’s defence forced NZ into mistakes, winning turnovers and dominating scrum engagements (100% success).
• Ultimately, All Blacks’ greater ball-in-hand numbers (heavy carry and pass workload) helped them edge a narrow 31–27 victory — but it came under persistent French pressure.
️
