All Blacks run away from French with seven-try second-half explosion

MARC HINTON21:43, Jun 09 2018 With the teams tied, New Zealand turn the match on its head with France down to 14 players in Auckland. It took 40 minutes, and a little help from English referee Luke Pearce, for the All Blacks to shake off their rust and launch what is hoped will be their bold new era of attacking play. As promising starts go, this is a peach. In the end an exhilarating seven-try second 40 minutes on Eden Park indicates Steve Hansen's All Blacks have started their 2018 campaign mightily impressively, powering to a 52-11 victory over a French side which faded badly after leading 11-8 at halftime. But this scoreline should come with an asterisk. It should note that the All Blacks' second-spell explosion was ignited by a highly dubious yellow card call by Pearce on French lock Paul Gabrillagues in the 51st minute. At that stage it was 11-11, and replays showed his highish hit on Ryan Crotty, which might have bounced up off the ball, probably deserved just a penalty. Of course the All Blacks needed no second invitation from there. They scored twice while the big lock was in the bin, and from there the floodgates opened, French heads dropped and that highly touted defence turned from best in the world to decidedly turnstile. Pearce's decision was further exacerbated shortly afterwards when All Blacks flanker Sam Cane escaped with just a penalty after collecting French wing Remy Grosso high with his arm in what appeared a far more dangerous incident. For all that the All Blacks were hugely impressive when they got their game going in the second half. They may have needed some luck, but they were very much good enough to seize it and turn it to their advantage. Ryan Crotty is tackled high by France's Paul Gabrillagues in the second half at Eden Park Hooker Codie Taylor had a mighty game for the All Blacks up front, scoring one try and popping up all over the place on a busy night. Luke Whitelock fared well at No 8, Scott Barrett likewise at lock and skipper Sam Whitelock went the distance in a gutsy display. Anton Lienert-Brown shook off a couple of early errors to post an impressive shift in midfield, Ryan Crotty was excellent alongside, and Ben Smith and Rieko Ioane showed their class when things opened up. Jordie Barrett would be happy with his night's work too. The New Zealand bench was nothing short of fabulous, from big Karl Tu'inukuafe big impact at scrum on debut to a showcase display off the pine from Damian McKenzie. They took the game to another level, as they so often do. A lot of what had been talked about in the leadup came to pass in a tight first 40 minutes that saw the French take an 11-8 lead into the sheds. Yes, the visitors' defence was very good; yes, the All Blacks were decidedly rusty; and, yes, this was not the one-way traffic that some had predicted. It shouldn't surprise us, but still does. The All Blacks get together six days before their opening test of the year. It takes time – in this case 40 minutes – to shake off the rust. Through the first 40 the New Zealanders committed a half-dozen handling errors, missed 10 tackles and failed to turn 65 percent possession and 63 percent territory into anything better than eight points, and a single try. The French brought plenty to the opening exchanges and were not only well organised on defence but occasionally inventive enough to offer some hope. Wing Grosso had them out to a 5-0 lead in the seventh minute when he swooped on a Ben Smith pop-up pass from a ruck turnover and dashed clear. Slowly but surely the All Blacks worked their way back. Penalties were exchanged, then the Barrett brothers celebrated their historic night as the first trio of siblings ever to start a test for New Zealand by featuring in their side's opening try. Scott slipped a nice pass to Jordie for the initial break and when Ryan Crotty went to deck, Beauden's beautifully timed run to the blind netted a key five-pointer. The All Blacks should have had another soon after when Crotty and Anton Lienert-Brown unlocked that tight defence on the shadow of halftime, but Aaron Smith's support line was found to obstruct a defender under TMO scrutiny. That meant Morgan Parra's 54-metre monster penalty four minutes from the break had given the visitors an unlikely lead, and this test a real shot in the arm as a legitimate contest. Then this thing got turned on its head. Gabrillagues got his yellow card 10 minutes into the second spell and, of course, the All Blacks punished them, with two tries while the lock was cooling his heels. The first went to Codie Taylor, out wide from a peach of a left-footed grubber kick from Beauden Barrett, and the second to Ben Smith when the All Blacks took a quick throw and quick hands and some stellar play from Crotty and Taylor down the right touch put the wing over. From there it was a procession. Ioane (twice), McKenzie, Ngani Laumape and Ardie Savea all crossed as the All Blacks ran riot. As an opening statement, very very impressive. All Blacks 52 (Beauden Barrett, Codie Taylor, Ben Smith, Rieko Ioane 2, Damian McKenzie, Ngani Laumape, Ardie Savea tries; Beauden Barrett 2 pens, 3 cons ) France 11 ( Remi Grosso try; Morgan Parra 2 pens). Ht: 8-11.