With videoFrance started the Rugby World Cup in their own country with a historic victory. Les Bleus defeated New Zealand with a crushing 27-13 in a sweltering Stade de France on Friday night. The All Blacks thus lost a group match at a global final for the first time (!) after 31 wins in a row in group matches at the previous nine World Cups.
The tenth Rugby World Cup, held in France over the next six weeks, opened with a cracker in Paris. Stade de France was sold out with 82,000 spectators for a fight between two superpowers.
The host country absolutely reinforced the title aspirations. To the delight of all the French in the stadium. But the All Blacks, three-time world champions, proved tough for a long time. They only fell through the hooves in the second half.
With a try from Mark Telea, New Zealand took the lead in Paris after just one and a half minutes. The All Blacks dominated after that, but made too many unnecessary fouls. Through three penalties from Thomas Ramos, France had the lead at halftime: 9-8.
No one in the host country could rest easy with that. And immediately after the break, Telea also struck again. The All Blacks’ sprint gun was given free passage by the French, who believed the ball had previously been played forward illegally. That’s against the rules in rugby. However, the try was approved after video analysis (VAR).
With 9-13 the French had to chase again. Les Bleus did that with verve. After the break, the host country dictated. After 55 minutes, the turnaround took place. A try by Damian Penaud and conversion (Ramos) made it 16-13.
Then Will Jordan also received a 10-minute time penalty for a hard foul and the All Blacks had to continue with fourteen men. France punished that and eventually ran out to 27-13. Emmanuel Macron, David Beckham, Yannick Noah, Didier Deschamps, Kylian Mbappé, Antoine Griezmann and Olivier Giroud were among the 82,000 spectators at the Stade de France.
France and New Zealand will take on Italy, Namibia and Uruguay in Group A. The top two countries from the four groups advance to the quarter-finals. The numbers three from all four groups automatically qualify for the 2027 World Cup, which will be held in Australia.
New Zealand and South Africa record holders
New Zealand became world champions in 1987, 2011 and 2015. In 1987 and 2011, the All Blacks defeated the French in the World Cup final. South Africa also became world champions for the third time in Japan four years ago, after the previous titles in 1995 in their own country and 2007 in France.
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The other countries that have managed to become world champions in rugby are Australia (1991 and 1999) and England (2003). France also lost the World Cup final in 1999 and is chasing its first world title in its own country, supported by hundreds of thousands of fanatical rugby fans.
The World Cup in France will last until Saturday, October 28, with the final at the Stade de France in Saint-Denis. The other matches will be played in the football stadiums of Olympique Marseille, Olympique Lyonnais, Lille OSC, Girondins de Bordeaux, FC Nantes, Toulouse FC and AS Saint-Étienne.
Six of the last eight games will be played at the Stade de France, with two quarter-finals also being played at the Stade Vélodrome in Marseille.
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