New Zealand 37 France 12
30/06/01:New Zealand's patience under pressure proved sufficient to head off France 37-12 in a one-off Test in Wellington today.
The All Blacks, looking for a confidence-booster before starting their Tri Nations series, scored four tries to none while holding out a strong Frenchpack which tested it in scrummaging and by turning over several All Black attempts at mauls.
It was a salutary lesson for the New Zealanders who played well enough offensively to head off the French, who lacked inspiration in theirbackplay and never looked like penetrating the All Black line.
But it was the indecision in the middle stages of the second half, and the scrappy play at scrum and lineout, that will have the All Blacks workinghard over the next two weeks.
"That was a real test, a tough one," All Black captain Anton Oliver said afterwards.
"They forced us into errors but our defence was good and at the end of the first half they didn't know what to do with it [the ball], and they hadto kick it," he said.
The All Black scrum had been put under pressure but the side had absorbed that and used the ball well, he said.
French captain Fabien Galthie said that maybe his side was tired after three Tests in three weeks but they had played pretty positively.
"We lost the Test in the last few minutes," he said.
New Zealand ran in two tries in the last seven minutes and Galthie wasn't upset that seven changes had been made after the Test loss lastweek in South Africa.
"It was a good thing to improve our experience. The All Blacks played well defensively and offensively. But we improved our level and that wasgood for us," he said.
New Zealand conceded early penalty goals to debut French flyhalf David Skrela but the 23rd minute try scored by All Black right wing Jeff Wilsongave the home team a lead it never conceded.
Wilson, who has been under pressure to produce his best touches since taking last winter off rugby, looked the part with some dazzling touchesand apart from his try, he also set up the victory for New Zealand, in the 73rd minute, when running into the backline from the blindside to openup the defences and send left wing Jonah Lomu storming for the line.
Wilson also used his experience in chasing ahead after kicks from Brown, and halfback Justin Marshall, to keep the pressure on the Frenchthree-quarters and fullback.
Unheralded All Black blindside flanker Reuben Thorne also drew reward for his efforts when crossing for the second try 31 minutes into the match.
The try, started with a break by centre Tana Umaga and featured eight phases of play before Thorne touched down.
So often the link between the loose forwards and the driving tight men, Umaga has been one of the most consistent performers in the All Blackpack in the first three Test matches of the year.
Backing his efforts has been the performance of lock Troy Flavell, who apart from his work in the tight exchanges managed to show some of hisZinzan Brooke-like ball-handling skills when playing like a covering No 8.
France rang the changes during the second half and the front row was replaced for the last 20 minutes. Each of the seven substitutes were used.
But it was to no avail and when Lomu and replacement wing three-quarter Doug Howlett scored a try each within three minutes, the All Blackshad a winning margin that flattered them.
Howlett, was only on the field for 30 seconds before scoring, a feat he has managed in each of his seven Test matches.
France was well served by Galthi at halfback, who really put the pressure on his All Black opposite Justin Marshall at one five-metre scrum onthe French line. With the All Blacks looking to press, Galthie simply robbed Marshall of the ball.
There were problems all night at the No 8-halfback level for the New Zealanders with ball being lost on several occasions.
Another outstanding performer for France was No 8 Patrick Tabacco. Several times he gained valuable metres with hard charges through thedefences. The experienced lock Olivier Brouzet found himself more than once having to take down the rampaging Lomu as he attempted to breakthrough the French forwards.
While the margin of defeat was heavy for France, there were signs of potential among many of the less experienced players tried in the game, andFrance can fly home safe in the knowledge that its pool of available international players has been broadened with the 2003 World Cup in mind.
For New Zealand, the immediate benefit is some confidence from a sound win against the toughest opponent it has met this year.
AFP