New Zealand 37 - 17 France: All Blacks make serious statement of intent

The scoreboard may suggest this was a contest of near equals but don’t be fooled. The Kiwis scored three tries in the first 20 minutes to take a commanding 19-0 lead and, unlike that famous 1999 semi-final, never looked like relinquishing it.

The only downside for coach Graham Henry was the loss of Adam Thompson late in the game as the flanker limped off with what looked like a painful knee injury.

This was a triumph of intelligence, dynamism and skill over sheer size and brute strength. At one point the giant figure of Lionel Nallet squared up to the diminutive Keven Mealamu and the smart money was all riding on the Kiwi hooker.

No-one works harder off the ball than the All Blacks and the French, appropriately clad in white, were blowing fit to bust as early as the half hour mark. All too often a simple inside pass was enough to find a lazy French defender who hadn’t worked to fill in the gap. The French backs never came to terms with the physicality of their opponents whereas the All Blacks looked slick, supported the ball and could look to little moments of magic from Sonny Bill Williams and Dan Carter when their standard excellence failed them. Their first-choice front row had the French on the rack and in this mode New Zealand almost make the game look easy.

One obvious example occurred early in the second half when Williams drew two defenders before finding Carter with a sublime offload and the flyhalf set off for the line before feeding Richard Kahui. The French scramble sealed the gaps this time but from the resulting field position Israel Dagg danced past two French forwards for his second and his team’s fourth try.

The difference between the sides was nowhere more obvious than in the back row, where Richie McCaw, winning his 100th New Zealand cap, slotted into the No.8 position at the scrum. McCaw was his usual dynamic self, driving Imanol Harinordoquy back 20 yards in one tackle with a little help from Conrad Smith and buzzing about the pitch like a man in a hurry.

In comparison, the lumbering giant that is Louis Picamoles appeared to be moving in slow motion. At times it was almost embarrassing to watch, especially when the French eight was suckered by a Dan Carter dummy to gift Dagg his first try.

There were few enough straws for the French coach to clutch and Marc Lievremont’s gamble of playing scrumhalf Morgan Parra one wider didn’t really pay off. His side did score two tries against the meanest defence around but both were a bit fortuitous. Maxime Mermoz grabbed an interception score midway through the second half and the other touchdown went to replacement Francois Trinh-Duc who benefited from a quick tap penalty taken while the Kiwi forwards were still digesting a lecture from the referee.

Had it been the World Cup final, Alain Rolland would not have got out of the ground alive.

Just to emphasis their superiority, the Kiwis scored their fifth and final try of the evening from the resulting kick off with Colin Slade making the running up the left flank before Williams finished off the move in the opposite corner.

There will be sterner challenges ahead but the All Blacks passed this French test with flying colours.

Scorers: New Zealand: Tries: Thomson, Jane, Dagg 2, S Williams. Cons: Carter 3. Pens: Carter. Drop Goal: Carter. France: Tries: Mermoz, Trinh-Duc. Cons: Yachvili 2. Pens: Yachvili.

New Zealand: Dagg; Jane (S Williams 34 mins), Smith, Nonu, Kahui (Slade 61); Carter, Weepu (Ellis 55); Woodcock, Mealamu (Hore 55), O Franks (B Franks 69), Thorn, Whitelock (A Williams 55), Kaino, McCaw, Thomson (Boric 71).

France: Traille (Heymans 40 mins); Clerc, Rougerie, Mermoz, Medard; Parra (Trinh-Duc 64), Yachvili; Poux, Szarzewski, Ducalcon (Barcella 40), Pape (Pierre 65), Nallet, Dusautoir, Bonnaire, Picamoles (Harinordoquy 40).

Referee: A Rolland (Ire). Att: 50,000.