Autumn Internationals/France 6; New Zealand 45: There are matches that come to be seen as defining a particular generation of players, and this comprehensive, dazzling demolition job on the Six Nations champions for New Zealand's biggest win in Paris was the evening when Graham Henry's youthful All Blacks came of age.
"They are two or three levels above us physically," said the stunned France coach, Bernard Laporte, whose side were unable to score a point from the 15th minute onwards. "We beat Australia two weeks ago, but they were three times quicker than Australia. Our players are saying they have never experienced such physical impacts."
He added: "They were faster moving, got to the breakdown so fast that we could never produce quick ball and got around so quickly that we could never go forward. The backrow were running through us, creating one gap after another. We never expected them to present a physical challenge like that. We were banging our heads against a wall for 90 minutes."
The All Blacks had, said Henry, "been working towards producing something special for five months", and that something could herald an epic tour next summer for Clive Woodward's Lions. Given that seven of this All Black side are under 25, Saturday night must also hold portents for the next World Cup.
On that note, Black Saturday may lead to some interesting times in France, for whom September 2007 suddenly seems just around the corner. A fumbled defeat against Argentina could be dismissed as a bad day at the office, but this was on a different level: France's worst result in Paris since the 54-10 thrashing by the Springboks at the Parc des Princes seven years ago.
The backlash was immediate yesterday, with former coach Pierre Berbizier castigating Laporte for failing to bring through new players and refusing to rotate his team through this autumn series, something Henry clearly did to great effect.
It could, however, have been even worse. At 38-6 behind with 25 minutes remaining - after three tries in 11 minutes for Jerry Collins, Daniel Carter and Byron Kelleher - France were facing a record defeat until the All Blacks eased up.
The France tight five had been torn to pieces, with injuries to the props Pieter de Villiers and Sylvain Marconnet resulting in the side that dominated this year's Six Nations packing down to uncontested scrums from the 48th minute.
De Villiers has a torn bicep and Marconnet torn shoulder muscles, while an eye injury to the France hooker William Servat and the lock Jerome Thion's broken nose testified to the brutality of the forward battle.
"The young guys wanted to stand up and make a statement," said Henry, who paid particular tribute to prop Tony Woodcock, earning his seventh cap at the age of 23.
From the first minute, France looked nervous going forwards, fumbling balls and miscuing clearances, but they were given barely a yard of space to work in. The All Blacks provided a different spectacle, offloading the ball in the tackle at will, gaining yards at every impact, with the back row of Rodney So'oialo, Richard McCaw and Collins in total ascendancy.
Initially Carter's boot did the damage, taking New Zealand to a 12-6 lead on the half-hour, while So'oialo's burst through Cedric Heymans for the first try shortly before the break opened the floodgates.
France's manager Jo Maso said: "Next summer will be a massive challenge for Clive Woodward and the Lions, and I hope they have the right players."
The World Cup-winning coach has been duly warned.
FRANCE: Poitrenaud (Toulouse); Rougerie (Clermont-Auvergne; Dominici, Stade Francais, 67), Marsh (Clermont-Auvergne), Liebenberg (Stade Francais), Heymans (Toulouse); Michalak (Toulouse; Barrau, Agen, 68), Peyrelongue (Biarritz); Marconnet (Stade Francais; Milloud, Bourgoin, 26), Servat (Toulouse), De Villiers (Stade Francais; Bruno, Sale, 48), Pelous (capt, Toulouse), Thion (Biarritz; Pape, Bourgoin, 52), Betsen (Biarritz), Magne (Clermont-Auvergne), Harinordoquy (Biarritz; Bonnaire, Bourgoin, 65).
NEW ZEALAND: Muliaina (Auckland); Howlett (Auckland; Nonu, Wellington, 55), Smith (Wellington; Mauger, Canterbury, 65), Umaga (capt, Wellington), Rokocoko (Auckland); Carter (Canterbury), Kelleher (Waikato); Woodcock (North Harbour; Somerville, Canterbury, 61), Oliver (Otago; Mealamu, Auckland, 50), Hayman (Otago), Maxwell (Canterbury), Jack (Canterbury; Williams, Auckland, 50), Collins (Wellington), McCaw (Canterbury), So'oialo (Wellington).
Referee: A Rolland (Ireland).
