The Sports Guru
Rugby's new global competition arrived, and it did not do things quietly. This covers New Zealand's 34-32 win over France in the very first Nations Championship match: nine tries in Christchurch, a Will Jordan double that carried him to within touching distance of an All Blacks record, a Cam Roigard brace, and a France side who were meant to be along for the ride and very nearly stole the whole thing. It was also Dave Rennie's first Test in charge, and a decent sign of what he has inherited.
The Nations Championship wanted a statement opener and New Zealand and France duly obliged, trading nine tries under the roof at One New Zealand Stadium before the All Blacks held on to win 34-32. Will Jordan scored twice, Cam Roigard scored twice, and for long stretches it was anyone's game, which is not what the pre-match script suggested. France had travelled to Christchurch shorn of a chunk of their first-choice squad and were widely expected to be tidied up. Instead they took the fight to the last minute and left with a good deal of credit. New Zealand won. France announced themselves.
A helter-skelter start nobody warned France about
The hosts had barely settled when they were behind. Inside the first two minutes Damian Penaud finished off the opening try of the entire tournament, and the build-up cost New Zealand a man, Ruben Love binned for a high tackle on Max Spring. Starting a Test a try and a player down against France is not the ideal way to begin a new era, and for a few minutes Christchurch looked nervous. The All Blacks answered the way good sides do, with Jordan crossing in the seventh minute and Peter Lakai adding a second on 21 minutes to steady the thing. Roigard's try on the stroke of half-time nudged them into a 19-13 lead at the break, though nobody watching mistook that for comfort.
Jordan closes on a record, Roigard runs the show
The two men with braces decided it. Roigard, all energy and sniping breaks from the base, got his second in the second half, and Jordan applied the finish that mattered most. His second try, on 71 minutes, pushed New Zealand out to 34-25 and gave them the cushion they would need when France came again. It also moved Jordan to 47 Test tries, leaving him two short of Doug Howlett's All Blacks record of 49, a milestone now close enough that you can start counting down. He has never looked like a man who chases records so much as a man to whom they keep happening, and this was another afternoon of the ball finding him wherever the try-line happened to be.
France were supposed to be making up the numbers
Someone forgot to tell France they were the undercard. Missing players from Toulouse and Montpellier and fielding a side with plenty to prove, they scored four tries of their own through Penaud, Antoine Hastoy, Theo Attissogbe and, right at the death, Matthieu Jalibert, whose 78th-minute score dragged the deficit back to two and set up a grandstand finish. New Zealand had to survive one last French charge to get the win over the line, and the fact it was that tight against a weakened France will give Rennie plenty to chew on. Penaud, for his part, moved to 41 Test tries, a reminder that even a second-string France carries genuine danger out wide.
A winning start for Rennie, and a promising sign for the tournament
Dave Rennie could not have asked for a more instructive first Test. His New Zealand extended a run of not losing at home to France that stretches back to 2009, they found points from multiple sources, and they showed the composure to close out a game that refused to settle. Captain Ardie Savea was honest about the examination. "France came to play and put us under pressure," he said. "I am proud of the boys for what they put in." As opening acts go, the Nations Championship could hardly have hoped for better: two proud rugby nations, nine tries, a lead that changed hands more than once and a finish that went to the final play. If this is the standard the competition intends to set, English rugby fans weighing up whether to care about a new tournament in a crowded calendar just got their answer.
Verdict: New Zealand got the win, France got the message across
New Zealand will take the win and the intact home record against France, and Jordan's countdown to Howlett gives the neutral something to follow. But the story of the night was that a France side written off before kick-off pushed the All Blacks to the wire in Christchurch. Rennie starts with a win and a warning in the same 80 minutes, which is probably the most useful thing a new coach can be handed. The Nations Championship promised jeopardy and delivered it on the opening night. On this evidence, it will not want for drama.
Frequently Asked Questions
New Zealand beat France 34-32 in the opening match of the inaugural Nations Championship, played at One New Zealand Stadium in Christchurch. The All Blacks led 19-13 at half-time and had to survive a late French charge, sparked by Matthieu Jalibert's 78th-minute try, to close out a two-point win in a game that featured nine tries.
New Zealand scored five tries. Will Jordan and Cam Roigard both crossed twice, and Peter Lakai added the other. Jordan opened the scoring in the seventh minute and his second, on 71 minutes, pushed the All Blacks out to 34-25. Roigard's brace included a try on the stroke of half-time that gave New Zealand their interval lead.
Very close. His double against France took Jordan to 47 Test tries, leaving him two short of Doug Howlett's New Zealand record of 49. At his current rate he is on course to break it, and every match now comes with a running count on how many he needs.
The Nations Championship is a new international rugby union competition, contested for the first time in 2026. Twelve teams are split into two pools, broadly along Northern and Southern Hemisphere lines, with each nation playing the six teams in the opposite pool across the mid-year and end-of-year windows before a Finals Weekend, the Grand Final of which is scheduled for London. New Zealand's win over France was its very first fixture.
Sources: The 34-32 final score and 19-13 half-time score, the nine tries and their scorers (Will Jordan two, Cam Roigard two and Peter Lakai for New Zealand; Damian Penaud, Antoine Hastoy, Theo Attissogbe and Matthieu Jalibert for France), Jordan's seventh-minute opener and 71st-minute second, Jalibert's 78th-minute late try, Penaud's early score and Ruben Love's yellow card for a high tackle on Max Spring, Jordan reaching 47 Test tries (two off Doug Howlett's record of 49), Penaud reaching 41, New Zealand's unbeaten home record against France since 2009, Dave Rennie's first Test in charge, France's under-strength selection, Ardie Savea's quote, the One New Zealand Stadium venue and the Nations Championship format, as reported by BBC Sport and corroborated across Sky Sports, RugbyPass, The42, Planet Rugby and World Rugby.
