All Blacks v France: Ruben Love passes adversity test in No 10 jersey but understrength French deliver a big warning
Saturday, 4 July 2026
ANALYSIS: The Dave Rennie era started with a classic test and dramatic 34-32 victory - and perhaps some relief the French didn’t send their strongest team.
The All Blacks’ new “optimistic” mindset crashed into the harsh realities of modern test rugby, where the idea of consistent All Blacks domination needs to be consigned to the dustbin of history.
They narrowly avoided what would have been a dispiriting loss, but they can also take heart from the performance of new All Blacks No 10 Ruben Love, who held his nerve in an encouraging first start in the jersey.
Love got off to the worst possible start.
The All Blacks had barely touched the ball before France scored and Love was sent to the sin bin for high shot on Les Bleus fullback Max Spring.
The All Blacks conceded four more penalties in the first 15 minutes in a chaotic and error-riddled start as they trailed 10-5 against a French team that had come to play.
It is one thing to play with “optimism” - the latest All Blacks buzzword - but there has to be some control as well.
To the All Blacks’ credit, they fought back through a superb team try finished by Peter Lakai that encapsulated the Rennie rugby philosophy: work hard to get into a position to find some space.
From that Lakai try in the 20th minute the All Blacks started to get into their work.
But the big contributors in the first half were Sam Darry and Ethan de Groot.
The big Cantabrian and the big Southlander mighn’t be the flashiest players in this All Blacks squad, but their relentless desire to carry the ball hard and straight got the home side moving forward.
Their hard work was needed, because the All Blacks’ defence struggled against the free-flowing French attack that found space at will as France No 10 Matthieu Jalibert pulled the strings superbly.
The battle between Love and Jalibert was the best individual duel of the test.
The brilliant playmakers each had their moments of brilliance - and made some errors.
Some of Love’s kicking in the second half put the All Blacks under pressure, and the All Blacks were mightily relieved when referee found a knock-on when Love lost an aerial contest in the second half and France were denied a try.
But just as it looked like Jalibert was taking control of the game, he dropped a tough pass to give the All Blacks much-needed territory, and minutes later Love superbly caught a high ball to spark the counterattack that led to Will Jordan’s second try.
But Jalibert took the points decision as he powered over with minutes to go to set up a grandstand finish.
The 27-year-old Bordeaux star has two years’ more experience than Love, and he looked like a player with that extra experience and confidence at the very highest level.
The All Blacks didn’t have any issue creating space, especially down their right-hand edge, but missed a number of chances due to poor execution.
Their discipline was also poor, and it didn’t improved after the break when captain Ardie Savea gave away a needless penalty from the restart.
As The Post warned in March, Rennie’s Wallabies had a discipline issue that marred his reign in Australia and it was the one obvious red flag attached to his All Blacks appointment.
But the All Blacks cleaned up their act after that Savea penalty to show they can learn on the job.
The Rennie era is under way, but few now can be under any illusion as to how hard it is going to be to get back to No 1.