France dig deep to grind out victory over All Blacks in thriller

France completed a rousing second-half comeback to secure a third straight win over New Zealand with a breathless 30-29 Autumn Nations Series victory at the Stade de France.

Tries from Peter Lakai (9′) and Cam Roigard (27′) helped the visitors earn a deserved 17-10 lead at the break with debutant Romain Buros (32′) going over for France.

But it was the French who turned the screw early in the second period before a passionate 82,000 sell-out crowd, with superb scores from Paul Boudehent (44′) and Louis Bielle-Biarrey (51′) earning Les Bleus a vital 24-17 lead.

It was an advantage they would not relinquish, with Thomas Ramos and Damian McKenzie trading penalties until the end of a frantic Test battle. The All Blacks suffered the first defeat of their European tour by the narrowest of margins after wins against England and Ireland.

France return to the Stade de France to face Argentina on Friday evening, with Scott Robertson’s All Blacks forced to pick themselves up after this agonising loss before visiting Turin to take on Italy on Saturday.

France look to have got that narrow 29-28 quarter-final defeat to South Africa in the World Cup in Paris a year ago out of their system with arguably their best performance since that loss.

After toiling at the line-out and scrum in the first half, Fabien Galthie’s recovered strongly and were probably worth their victory over a buoyant All Blacks side, who were fresh from late victories over England and Ireland.

France suffered their only defeat of last year’s Six Nations to Ireland, but will have serious ambitions of improving up their second-place finish behind Andy Farrell’s men this season.

Another pulsating powerhouse performance from the All Blacks flanker, who struggled to contain his disappointment at the end after coming up short while also praising the home team.

“We are extremely disappointed,” he told TNT Sports. “We put ourselves right in there to win the game, but we made silly mistakes and turned the ball over and a quality side will punish you, which they did. Pretty gutted.

“Of course, you have to credit them. We felt like we were in control and we were pretty accurate in the first half. In the second half we just let them into the game. They applied pressure on us and we could not handle it. Although I am extremely disappointed, I am also proud.”

27′ TRY! FRANCE 3-14 NEW ZEALAND So clinical from New Zealand as Cam Roigard cashes in from a loose piece of play at the scrum to steal the ball from Alldritt and turn to race over. Looked like a France break on cards, but suddenly All Blacks are two scores clear with Beauden Barrett adding the two.

44′ TRY! FRANCE 17-17 NEW ZEALAND And this game is suddenly all level early in the second half. Serious momentum shift in matters. A key line-out win five yards out and the maul sees Boudehent score the try before Ramos floats over the conversion. Game on indeed.

52′ TRY! FRANCE 24-17 NEW ZEALAND Well, the mood of this match is completely transformed as France suddenly storm ahead in this contest. Vaa’i’s offload is nowhere and Bordeaux winger Bielle-Biarrey speeds onto the Ramos kick to give the home side the lead before Ramos converts. French crowd loving this!

73′ FRANCE HAVE A PENALTY! A high challenge going against New Zealand this time. Ofa Tu’ungafasi is the man in the dock and shakes his head. Over goes the three from Ramos to increase the lead to four.

75′ THIS MATCH IS HEADING FOR A CLOSE FINALE This time McKenzie drills over the penalty just inside the home half after France were penalised for foul play. French lead 30-29.

France: Buros 7, Villiere 7, Fickou 7, Moefana 7, Bielle-Biarrey 8, Ramos 7, Dupont 7, Gros 7, Mauvaka 7, Tatafu 7, Flament 7, Meafou 7, Boudehent 6, Roumat 6, Alldritt 6

New Zealand: Jordan 7, Reece 7, Ioane 7, J Barrett 7, Clarke 6, B Barrett 7, Roigard 7, Williams 7, Taylor 7, Lomax 7, S Barrett 7, Vaa’i 7, Finau 7, Savea 7, Sititi 7

France equalled their best winning sequence of all time against the All Blacks by winning a third straight Test match. They last managed the feat in 1994/95.