World media reacts to France win in Rugby World Cup: All Blacks get ‘a taste of their own medicine’

France made a massive statement in serving the All Blacks a defeat which the New Zealanders have inflicted on so many opponents at previous Rugby World Cups.

That was the common theme in the global media’s reaction to France’s 27-13 victory against Ian Foster’s All Blacks in Paris on Saturday morning (NZ time).

It was the first pool stage defeat for the All Blacks in World Cup history, as the 10th edition of the men’s tournament kicked off in front of a partisan home crowd of more than 80,000 at the famous Stade de France.

The All Blacks have won three World Cups and France are chasing their first title after losing in three finals.

The headline of Jonathan Liew’s analysis in the Guardian said France gave the All Blacks “a taste of their own medicine” to kickstart the party.

“The black shirts of New Zealand paced around a little dazed and confused. There is nothing quite as disorienting as the sight of beaten All Blacks. Everybody loses, but somehow when New Zealand lose it is as if they have been deprogrammed. They stumble around zombified, occasionally feigning a smile or a grimace, but mostly wondering what the hell just happened,” Liew wrote.

“And perhaps the greatest compliment you could pay France on a storming opening night of the Rugby World Cup is that they did to New Zealand what the All Blacks have so invariably done to others.”

French outlet L’Equipe led with “Les Bleus overwhelm the All Blacks”, with Richard Escot writing that France’s win was a good mental boost because they dominated the former world champions.

“After a difficult half hour, Les Bleus managed to overthrow the All Blacks thanks to two tries from Damien Penaud and Melvyn Jaminet and also seventeen points from Thomas Ramos, who punished New Zealand’s ill discipline,” he wrote.

Escot said France’s reaction in the second half was “staggering” after they trailed 13-9 when Mark Telea scored his second try in the 43rd minute.

The fervent Parisian crowd wanted referee Jaco Peyper to rule out that Telea try for an alleged forward pass from Rieko Ioane, whistling loudly when the try was replayed on the big screen.

The same crowd booed French president Emmanuel Macron when he spoke in the opening ceremony, but they created a phenomenal atmosphere in the opening match.

Chris Foy of the Daily Mail said it “was a cacophonous outpouring of Gallic pride and outrage”.

“The pride was for their players – who needed the support to recover from a misfiring first half – and the outrage was directed towards referee Jaco Peyper, who replaced Macron as the crowd’s pantomime villain with a series of close calls in New Zealand’s favour,” Foy wrote.

“Before it all came together and they produced a dazzling late flourish, France laboured for so long to take advantage of their supremacy in much of the battle up front.”

Mike Henson of BBC Sport said the sense of “injustice fuelled some fight” in the French, who took a lead they didn’t relinquish when Penaud scored a crucial try in the 55th minute that was excellently created by first five-eighth Matthieu Jalibert.

“Penaud, having been denied shortly before by Mo’unga’s breathtaking corner-flagging cover tackle, plunged over to restore France’s lead to 16-13 after smart work from Jalibert,” he wrote.

“Peyper partially satisfied the demands of the home fans, dispatching Will Jordan to the sin-bin for taking out Ramos in the air and France milked the man advantage for another penalty to crank the gap out to 19-13.”

Gavin Mairs of The Telegraph said it was an “emotionally charged” win for France, in stark contrast to their last opening World Cup match on home soil, when they lost to Argentina in 2007.

“This time it is Les Bleus who had laid down a seismic marker, overwhelming New Zealand and giving the French public the ferocious and uplifting first chapter in a tournament that promises to be the best of the lot,” Mairs wrote.

“It is possible that these two sides could yet meet in the final next month and both should easily qualify for the quarter-final. But it is France who have landed the psychological blow that cements their status as favourites to lift the Webb Ellis trophy.”

With Thanks Reference to: https://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/rugby-world-cup-2023/132908061/world-media-reacts-to-france-win-in-rugby-world-cup-all-blacks-get-a-taste-of-their-own-medicine