All Blacks confirm superiority

France 11 New Zealand 23 : The sky did not fall upon Paris on Saturday night and rumours that the All Blacks pack had moved …

France 11 New Zealand 23: The sky did not fall upon Paris on Saturday night and rumours that the All Blacks pack had moved the Eiffel Tower five inches to the right to accommodate the team photographer were probably exaggerated.

The worst of French rugby nightmares did not materialise in the bright splendour of the Stade de France but through a fractured and heavily contested 80 minutes of rugby, the Kiwis once again confirmed that they are le bombe.

It was an odd night of sport in the darkened suburbs of St Denis. For a city with a lavish tradition of theatrical grandeur, nothing quite worked for the hosts. The vintage pure white shirts, worn in honour of the commemoration of the first Test match between the countries played on New Year's Day 1906, looked like bad French fashion from the era of Jean-Michel Jarre. An impressive male choir gave gusto to the Marseillaise but it wasn't the same without the brass. And whether a cockerel was booked or not, he certainly didn't show up.

But then there was little to strut about. France were full of heart and industry and played like men whose pride had been stung at the humiliation in Lyon a week earlier.

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Not until the 80th minute, however, did the 80,000 crowd become truly excited, when Aurelien Rougerie got to pin his blond mane back for one of the only clean breaks of the night. His brave and blinkered dash for the New Zealand try line was brought to an abrupt end with a typically smothering tackle from the ubiquitous captain Richie McCaw.

The contest was long over by then - it merely smouldered throughout the second half - but at least the sight of a French three-quarters galloping into glory country looked familiar to the home crowd. That late move was a departure from the conservative blue- print. Bernard Laporte decided that even if his men could not breach the All Blacks' 22-metre line, then the football most certainly would.

He instructed Damien Traille to hoof everything. And who could blame him? The tactic took just five minutes to create France's first try against New Zealand in three years when fullback Leon McDonald made a hash of a rudimentary catch and Florian Fritz arrived with perfect timing to send Cedric Heymans' home with ease.

Two penalties were the sum total of French joy over the remaining 75 minutes but they busied themselves by tackling demonically. Julien Bonnaire, the veteran Raphael Ibanez and, prior to injury, Pepito Elhorga all distinguished themselves with dramatic, score-saving stops during long periods of All Blacks pressure.

Even though this performance was one of consummate professionalism rather than fearsome brilliance, the All Blacks were compelling. They made the French look hasty, blunted and, most damningly, bereft of imagination. The New Zealand pack continued to boss the set-pieces, ominously driving the French eight from their own 22 in the first 10 minutes as easily as a bulldozer clearing earth and they continually forced the home team into trying to spoil. They finished with a perfect record on their own lineout. And although McDonald and Ma'a Nonu spilled a couple of killer passes, the handling was in phases superb, with Byron Kelleher involving backs and forwards and inviting the thunderous, blond-tipped figure of Jerry Collins bashing against the French line time and time again. Daniel Carter ran the show while looking smoother than James Bond. And although he missed a couple of long-range penalties, some of his kicks to touch were sensational.

He was at the heart of both All Blacks tries, the first of which began with a gorgeous sidestep and break from McDonald and finished with McCaw, Carter and Sitiveni Sivivatu handling sweetly at speed before Joe Rokocoko swatted Elhorga's last-gasp lunge and ambled over on the stroke of half-time.

That left it at 16-5 at the break and after the resumption, Traille's forlorn attempt at a drop goal highlighted how impoverished the French were for options.

Nine minutes later, New Zealand had breached again. Rodney So'oiala came thundering through the French rearguard, shaking off a huge hit by Elvis Vermeulen and from the next phase, Carter paved a way under the posts for Nonu with a sleight-of-hands reverse pass.

Laporte may have briefly feared that another rout might materialise. His team, though, continued to contest every sequence bitterly, Olivier Milloud hammering Carter with a fierce tackle on 60 minutes and old boys Serge Betsen and Christophe Dominici coming on to aid any possible final push.

In any case, the New Zealanders did not look in the mood for trying to put on an all-dancing show and, as McCaw alluded to afterwards, were puzzled and frustrated at some of the devilment that was occurring at the scrummage. The crowd stayed in high spirits but there was little to shout about. When Dimitri Yachvili opted for a penalty with 13 minutes remaining, it was clear that respectability was the height of French ambitions.

There was the sense they could have battered against the dark wall of the New Zealand defence all night without making any significant impression on the scoreboard.

It leaves Laporte and France with a busy 10 months. The All Blacks cast a shadow over the Welsh valleys next weekend and then jet back to New Zealand, wishing the World Cup was next week. That's about the only consolation for the French fans as they took solace from the late-night rain in bars around Garde du Nord. There is still time do something about this shadowy juggernaut. The question is what.

SCORERS: France - Try: Heymans (11) Pens: Yachvili (two); New Zealand - Tries: Rokocoko (40) Nonu (49). Cons: Carter (2). Pens : Carter (Three).

NEW ZEALAND: L McDonald; J Rokocoko, M Muliaina, M Nonu, S Sivivatu; D Carter, B Kelleher (A Ellis 76 mins); T Woodcock), K Mealamu, C Hayman; C Jack), A Williams; J Collins, R McCaw; R So'oialo. Replacements: N Tialata for Woodcock (60 mins), C Jack for Eaton (63 mins), C Masoe for So'oialo (68 mins), N Evans for Carter (76 mins), A Hore for Mealamu (77 mins).

FRANCE: P Elhorga; A Rougerie, F Fritz, Y Jauzion, C Heymans; D Traille, JP Elissalde; O Milloud, R Ibanez, P de Villiers; L Nallet, P Pape; J Bonnaire, R Martin); E Vermeulen. Replacements: D Yachvili for Elissalde (29 mins), D Szarzewski for Ibanez (56 mins), S Marconnet for de Villiers (56 mins), S Betsen for Martin (56 mins), C Dominici for Elhorga (69 mins).

Referee: C White (England).