Nations Championship: All Blacks dig deep to launch Dave Rennie era with a victory
Saturday, 4 July 2026
At One NZ Stadium, Christchurch: All Blacks 34 (Will Jordan 8min, 71min, Peter Lakai 20min, Cam Roigard 39min, 50min tries; Ruben Love pen, 3 con) France 32 (Damian Penaud 2min Antoine Hastoy 47min, Théo Attissogbé 59min, Matthieu Jalibert 78min tries; Maximu Lucu 2 pen, 2 con, Antoine Hastoy con). HT: 19-13.
Yellow card: Ruben Love (NZ) 3min.
The grimace finally turned to a smile for an at-times coiled Dave Rennie in the All Blacks coaching box at the end of a stirring Nations Championship opener in Christchurch on Saturday night. But it took the full 80 minutes.
The Rennie era as the new head coach of the All Blacks is off to a winning start, if not a conclusive one, after the New Zealanders were forced to dig deep and go right to the wire to overcome a mighty challenge from Les Bleus at Te Kaha on Saturday night, eventually prevailing 34-32, five tries to four, and banking the bonus point to go with it.
Behind two tries apiece from backline stars Cam Roigard and Will Jordan, the All Blacks launched Rennie‘s time as a mid-cycle replacement head coach with a degree of style, taking multiple shots from a quality, if under-strength, French outfit, but striking with enough regularity to nail a narrow victory.
Yes, it wasn’t perfect. There were too many slips on defence, too many handling errors, a little too much French flair on display no doubt for the new coach’s liking. But his team stayed optimistic, as he likes his sides to be, and established just enough clear air to hold on at the death in the face of a typical strong finish from the visitors.
It’s also worth noting that Ardie Savea’s time as captain of this team, after being their best player for a handful of years now, has also begun on a positive note, with the skipper a little tighter, a little more abrasive than he usually has to be, but still setting a mighty standard for his players.
The New Zealanders got a barnstorming two-try effort out of classy halfback Roigard, who flashed his world-class credentials with a polished display, and an identical return from Jordan who responded splendidly to his much-discussed move to the right wing with a team-best 63 metres on the carry. He nabbed his two tries with slick finishes to improve to second overall in All Blacks history, with 47, and just two behind the pacesetting Doug Howlett.
Others shone. Love, after a shaky start, was polished and dangerous in his first start at No 10, Peter Lakai impressed with his mix of power and skill in the loose and Caleb Clarke got through plenty of work, and 54m, before making way for Fehi Fineanganofo, along with Xavier Numia and Jamie Hannah, to make his debut off the bench.
The French were outstanding, none more so than the sharp Matthieu Jalibert at No 10, and brought plenty to a surging contest. If anything, their endeavour, purpose and commitment deserved more than a couple of bonus points in defeat.
Rennie’s men, on balance, did well to scramble a 19-13 halftime lead, three tries to one, with a dominant finish to the opening stanza just enough to put Roigard across for the score in the shadow of the break to put a modicum of separation between the two well-matched sides.
The New Zealanders took a while to settle, for sure, after Les Bleus scored the opening try, with wing Damian Penaud slicing through a gaping hole in the defence for a 7-0 lead, and Love found himself yellow-carded in his first test start at No 10 for a shoulder to the head of fullback Max Spring.
Gradually, around some costly handling errors and a couple of lineout misfires, the New Zealanders worked back into the contest. with try-scoring supremo Jordan, with his 46th score in his 55th test, striking first after Ardie Savea’s quick tap created the momentum.
Lakai’s try, in his first start at No 6, put the All Blacks in front, 12-10, at the midway point of the spell when he worked a nice one-two with Clarke down the left touch, and Roigard’s slick finish from a ruck near the line, following a strong carry from Codie Taylor off lineout, made it 19-13 at the break.
Rennie’s men had looked vulnerable on occasion through the opening 40, and certainly the French brought plenty of purpose and invention to the contest. But they kept their intent, their “optimism”, as the new coach would say, and they did well to pepper the visitors with a trio of tries that kept them in the ascendancy.
The French took the lead early in the second spell with a slick score to replacement back Antoine Hastoy, Roigard responded with his second off some great work from Quinn Tupaea and Jordie Barrett and the visitors closed within one at the three-quarter mark when Théo Attissogbé was put over by Spring.
But the All Blacks had this. For their new coach. A penalty and Jordan’s second score established just enough of a buffer to make Jalibert’s late touchdown immaterial. The new Gaffer could finally smile.