{"id":241419,"date":"2025-07-06T00:45:18","date_gmt":"2025-07-06T00:45:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/241419\/"},"modified":"2025-07-06T00:45:18","modified_gmt":"2025-07-06T00:45:18","slug":"all-blacks-hold-off-depleted-france-in-thriller-and-wales-slump-again-in-japan-rugby-union","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/241419\/","title":{"rendered":"All Blacks hold off depleted France in thriller and Wales slump again in Japan | Rugby union"},"content":{"rendered":"

Will Jordan scored a try in each half and Beauden Barrett kicked to perfection as New Zealand<\/strong> overcame three cancelled tries to claim a nervous 31-27 win over France<\/strong> in the series-opener in Dunedin.<\/p>\n

Fielding only three players from the Six Nations title-deciding win over Scotland, the depleted France side gave Scott Robertson\u2019s team a huge scare in an entertaining match at a sold-out Forsyth Barr stadium. However, a late Barrett penalty proved enough for the All Blacks to hold on, ending a three-match losing streak against Les Bleus.<\/p>\n

\u201cJust a typical Test match against the French for us,\u201d said Jordan, who was denied a hat-trick try by the television match official. \u201cA couple of errors cost us but we showed good composure to finish it off in the end there.\u201d<\/p>\n

The All Blacks lost Sevu Reece to a head-knock less than a minute in when the wing clattered into a French hip, forcing Robertson into a backline rejig and Damian McKenzie to play at full-back off the bench. France had a better start, with the debutant fly-half, Joris Segonds, kicking a penalty in the seventh minute after Gabin Villi\u00e8re won a turnover. France charged out to a 10-0 lead as Th\u00e9o Attissogbe made a break down the left wing, Ga\u00ebl Fickou drove the ball to the line and Micka\u00ebl Guillard crossed by the right post.<\/p>\n

Chastened, the All Blacks hit back hard. A Jordie Barrett try was denied by a knock-on in the buildup, but minutes later his brothers combined for their first legal try. Scott Barrett charged down a clearing kick behind the 22m line before Beauden Barrett put Jordan over at the right corner with a superb loop pass.<\/p>\n

McKenzie kept the momentum for the hosts, shrugging off four would-be tacklers with a jinking run to the posts before Tupou Vaa\u2019i barged over to put the All Blacks four points up. The Barrett brothers struck again just before half-time, this time with Jordie Barrett touching down at the right corner after quick hands from Beauden Barrett and Jordan.<\/p>\n

The All Blacks\u2019 21-13 lead all but disappeared within minutes of the restart, though, as Rieko Ioane spilled the kick-off ball forward to gift France a scrum deep in attack. Battering away for 16 phases, Segonds spread the ball wide to Villi\u00e8re who jogged through a gaping hole in the All Blacks\u2019 line on the right.<\/p>\n

The try-fest continued as Jordan burst through two defenders to cross for his second, with Beauden Barrett again setting up the chance. Fresh off the bench, Cameron Woki then crossed under the posts to peg back the All Blacks again.<\/p>\n

The pendulum swung back to the hosts with Villi\u00e8re shown a yellow card for a deliberate knock-on. A minute later, Billy Proctor stretched an arm over the line \u2013 only for the try to be cancelled as replays showed an illegal grounding of the ball.<\/p>\n

Billy Proctor stretches out to touch down before it was ruled out. Photograph: Joe Allison\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

The undermanned French soon buckled again, with Jordan seemingly crossing for his hat-trick try in the 63rd minute. But it was erased by the TMO, who spotted Pasilio Tosi obstructing a French defender in the buildup.<\/p>\n

Wales<\/strong>\u2019s interim head coach, Matt Sherratt, said his players were hurt by an 18th successive Test defeat as Japan<\/strong> recovered from a 12-point deficit to inflict further misery on the beleaguered tourists.<\/p>\n

Sherratt\u2019s side led 19-7 at the interval in Kitakyushu through tries from Ben Thomas and Tom Rogers, as well as a penalty try, and were in sight of claiming Wales\u2019 first win for 21 months. But Eddie Jones\u2019 Brave Blossoms stormed back in sweltering conditions, with the temperatures reaching 34C alongside a very high humidity reading, to win 24-19 and register only their second victory over Wales.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think you could see the feelings pitchside, not just the squad but the whole staff,\u201d said Sherratt of the scenes at the final whistle. \u201cTo have a 19-7 lead in the first half and to lose the game is obviously very disappointing. It hurts. Already we\u2019ve got to quickly use that hurt to fuel next week. The great thing about this tour is we get a chance next week to put it right.\u201d<\/p>\n

Blair Murray of Wales shows dejection after the team\u2019s 19-24 defeat by Japan. Photograph: Masterpress\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

Gregor Townsend was pleased to see Scotland<\/strong>\u2019s summer tour \u201cstart on a positive\u201d after his side held on to claim a 29-26 win against the M\u0101ori All Blacks<\/strong> in Whangarei.<\/p>\n

Having got off to a shaky start when Sam Nock crossed for the hosts, Scotland were able to clinch victory in the non-cap international with tries from Harry Paterson, Arron Reed and two either side of the break from George Horne. In a late scare the M\u0101ori reduced Scotland\u2019s lead to three points with 10 minutes to play, but Townsend was pleased to see his less experienced side prevail in Whangarei.<\/p>\n

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A rainbow in the skies during the match between the M\u0101ori All Blacks and Scotland in Whangarei. Photograph: Dave Rowland\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

The head coach said: \u201cThe M\u0101ori are a quality side and I suppose we decided to put a team out tonight that wasn\u2019t as experienced knowing that it\u2019ll be a great development and learning experience for them. But we also wanted to win this game and we\u2019re so pleased that we did and how we set that win up in the first half \u2013 how clinical we were. And then the pressure around set pieces and our defensive effort at the end saw us through. So, we\u2019re really pleased that the tour starts on a positive.\u201d<\/p>\n

A first-half brace by the debutant Tommy O\u2019Brien helped Ireland<\/strong> register an impressive 34-5 victory over Georgia<\/strong> in Tbilisi. Ireland were without their head coach, Andy Farrell, and a plethora of players due to British & Irish Lions commitments, but showed their strength in depth with an assured display on a rain-soaked pitch.<\/p>\n

O\u2019Brien raced over twice inside the opening exchanges before Craig Casey marked his captaincy debut with a fine try at the start of the second period. Nick Timoney wrapped up the scoring late on, while Sam Prendergast added 14 points during a faultless kicking display under the interimcoach, Paul O\u2019Connell.<\/p>\n

South Africa<\/strong> laboured but still ran in six tries to secure a 42-24 victory over an inexperienced Italy<\/strong> side in Pretoria, as the scrum-half Morne van den Berg crossed the line twice in a standout performance.<\/p>\n

The world champions were sloppy and often beaten at the breakdown and lineout as Italy put up a brave fight at Loftus Versfeld and heading into the final 10 minutes were still in the match against their vastly more experienced hosts.<\/p>\n

The centre Jesse Kriel, the wing Kurt-Lee Arendse, the prop Vincent Koch and the flanker Marco van Staden also scored tries for the Springboks, who will seek an improved performance in next week\u2019s second test in Gqeberha.<\/p>\n

Italy looked shellshocked as they trailed 28-3 at halftime, but they were much improved in the second period as the flanker Manuel Zuliani, the debutant hooker Pablo Dimcheff, a replacement, and Niccol\u00f2 Cannone, the captain, all scored tries.<\/p>\n

Hong Kong<\/strong> beat South Korea<\/strong> 70-22 in Incheon to win the Asia Championship and qualify for the World Cup for the first time. Hong Kong sides have got to the final stage of qualifying for the last two World Cups only to fall short but will now take their place at the expanded 24-team showpiece tournament in Australia in 2027.<\/p>\n

The United Arab Emirates<\/strong> beat Sri Lanka<\/strong> 29-21 in Colombo on Friday to finish second in the championship and will play off against an African nation in July for a spot at the final World Cup qualification tournament. Hong Kong are only the second team from Asia to get to the World Cup after Japan, who have already qualified after finishing third in their pool at the 2023 tournament in France.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Will Jordan scored a try in each half and Beauden Barrett kicked to perfection as New Zealand overcame…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":241420,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4102],"tags":[4151,79,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-241419","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-rugby","8":"tag-rugby","9":"tag-sports","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114803528439544841","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/241419","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=241419"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/241419\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/241420"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=241419"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=241419"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=241419"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}