The Black Ferns were not helped by a red card to reserve prop Chryss Viliko, who could have no arguments after being marched in the 64th minute for an ugly play where she took out an upright French player at the side of the breakdown at speed.
But the French had their number for most of the night; combating the Black Ferns’ free style of play with aggressive and fast line speed which led to some solid defence, making their tackles until the hosts eventually let them off the hook by dropping the ball, which was a glaring issue all night.
This was the first time since their Rugby World Cup triumph that the New Zealand team were meeting an opponent from the Six Nations. In that time, a new coaching group took the reins and new players were being brought into the test environment.
France were in a similar situation. After the Black Ferns dispatched them from last year’s World Cup in the semifinals, coach Thomas Darracq left his post and was replaced by joint head coaches David Ortiz and former national team flanker Gaelle Mignot. They have also undergone plenty of player movement and this was France’s first outing since their Six Nations campaign ended in late April.
Anyone watching might have thought it was the Black Ferns coming in with no game time under their belts as the hosts struggled on attack throughout the night, though their scrum was a major bright spot as even with seven they steamrolled that of the French.
It was a shaky start as both teams turned the ball over with their first possessions, but the Black Ferns settled in to get deep inside French territory early.
However, the French know by now that the Black Ferns like to throw the ball around and when Ruahei Demant looked to shovel on a loose ball inside the French 22, opposing centre Marine Menager was there to pick it off.
Menager quickly found her left winger Emilie Boulard, who impressed throughout the contest, and Boulard outsprinted Black Ferns fullback Renee Holmes to open the scoring.
It wasn’t long before the Black Ferns struck back, Ruby Tui making her mark in her return to the test arena with some footwork to break the line and get her side on the front foot. Liana Mikaele-Tu’u went over from close range soon after.
But just five minutes later, France had taken the lead again as right winger Cyrielle Banet found just enough room out wide to dance down the sideline, evading a few tackles on her way to finishing off an impressive solo effort.
France were doing a lot of tackling in the opening 20 with the Black Ferns dictating the pace, but they were also doing well to affect the breakdown and win turnovers, with three in the opening quarter of the game.
Building on that platform, the French held a 15-7 lead at halftime and extended that with another penalty early in the second stanza – though that was cancelled out about 10 minutes later.
The Black Ferns continued to struggle to hold onto the ball, and after Viliko was sent off it felt like it might be too much of a hill to climb. Instead, they clawed their way back into things on the back of their dominant scrum and when Tui put in a deft grubber for Katelyn Vahaakolo to score they were within one with time to work.
However, the French were able to hold on, closing out their first win on New Zealand soil.
Black Ferns 17 (Liana Mikaele-Tu’u, Katelyn Vahaakolo tries; Renee Holmes con, pen, Ruahei Demant con)
France 18 (Emilie Boulard, Cyrielle Banet tries; Morgane Bourgeois con, 2 pens)
HT: 7-15
