History of rugby union matches between France and New Zealand

The first encounter, during the historic 1905–1906 All Blacks tour of Europe and North America, which was also France's first test, took place in Paris in January 1906 and was won by New Zealand 38–8.

The largest winning margin in a test match between the countries was a 61–10 victory to the All Blacks at Westpac Stadium in Wellington in 2007.

France are sometimes called the "bogey" team of New Zealand, known for having inconsistent results in regular test matches, but have proven to be fierce opponents in the knockout stage of the Rugby World Cup.

All Black campaigns in The Rugby World Cup were halted by defeats to France in 1999 and 2007, and were nearly upset again in 2011 with a very narrow 8–7 victory in the final.

[1] The team – known today as "The Original All Blacks" – played various club and national sides throughout the British Isles before taking on France on 1 January 1906.

[1] Commenting on the state of French rugby in their book The Complete Rugby Footballer, Original All Blacks Dave Gallaher and Billy Stead wrote: "We are strongly of the opinion that the game will spread in their country and that in the course of time they will put a team in the field which will command the utmost respect of any other.

[5] Perhaps the "most celebrated Maori side in history", they undertook a seven-month 1926–27 tour of Australia, Ceylon, France, Wales and Canada, playing 38 matches, winning 29 and losing seven, with two draws.

In 1932 the International Rugby Football Board (IRB) expelled France from the Five Nations Championship for breaching the professionalism rules in its domestic club competition.

In 1946, France played two matches against a team selected from the New Zealand Expeditionary Force, nicknamed the "Khaki All Blacks".

Labadie then passed to French captain Jean Prat who scored a try, giving France a 3–0 lead that the All Blacks failed to close.

In one of the best conversions of his career, Don Clarke kicked almost parallel to the goal-line, relying on the strong wind to gust the ball over the posts.

[14] Although the All Blacks won the final test in Christchurch 32–3 to take the series, the tour had a positive influence in France where it was broadcast on national television via satellite, popularising the sport beyond its traditional heartland of the southwest.

[17] The All Blacks had defeated England, Scotland and Wales, and drawn with Ireland on their 1973 tour and France was their last test.

Many top All Blacks were serving a two-month suspension for participating in the rebel Cavaliers tour to South Africa.

The team that faced France became known as the "Baby Blacks" as all bar two of them were either making their test début or were very inexperienced.

[24] According to the All Blacks' coach at the time, Brian Lochore, the previous year's loss in Nantes was the catalyst for their World Cup victory.

[26] The match also helped improve the diplomatic and political rift between France and New Zealand caused by the 1985 bombing of the Rainbow Warrior by French Secret Service agents.

In a major upset for New Zealand rugby,[31] France took the first test 22–8 at Lancaster Park, coinciding with Frenchman Philippe Sella's hundredth match for his country.

A week later, on 18 November, at the Parc des Princes in Paris, the All Blacks took their revenge, inflicting a resounding 37–12 defeat.

[36] After their Athletic Park victory, the All Blacks were heavy favourites to win when they met France in the semi-finals of the 1999 Rugby World Cup.

France then scored two penalties and two drop goals to first five-eighth Christophe Lamaison to reduce the All Blacks' lead to 24–22 with 25 minutes remaining.

[41] The two met again the following week and this time France won 42–33, but as only the first test counted towards the trophy the All Blacks retained it.

[45] Following the defeat France's manager Jo Maso said that the All Blacks played the match, "for all the New Zealanders who died during the two World Wars in Europe".

[46] The following week the two teams met in Paris, this time to commemorate the centennial of the first ever All Blacks versus France test.

[48] The second test was played the following week in Wellington, and the All Blacks achieved their largest ever victory over France with a 61–10 win.

The match was won by France 20–18, and involved several controversial decisions by referee Wayne Barnes,[51] who subsequently received death threats from some fans.

[52] France scored one try after the sin binning of All Blacks second five-eighth Luke McAlister,[53] and another from a forward pass unseen by the referee.

[57] An 'Independent Review of the 2007 Rugby World Cup Campaign', conducted by Russel McVeagh lawyers and SPARC (Sport and Recreation New Zealand), found that Barnes and the touch judges had a significant impact on the result of the match.

The match involved several controversial decisions by referee Craig Joubert, nonetheless for the second time New Zealand won a home World Cup with France runners up.

[60] New Zealand and France have played eight Rugby World Cup games, more than any other pair of teams, including six play-off matches.