France captain Antoine Dupont fired a warning to the rest of the rugby world when he said the World Cup hosts are capable of playing at a much higher standard than what they produced in thumping New Zealand in the Paris opener on Friday night.
Les Bleus trailed 13-9 with more than half an hour to play after a slow first period during which the All Blacks crossed after just 93 seconds.
In the final 30 minutes winger Damian Penaud and replacement back Melvyn Jaminet crossed for tries, with fullback Thomas Ramos clinical with the boot as he amassed 17 points in a 27-13 victory.
“It’s incredible to score almost 30 against the All Blacks in an opening game,” Dupont told reporters. “We know we’re capable of doing better than that, especially the first half. We told each other, we have to play better, they scored too easily.
“In a match that seemed average for us, we managed to score pretty much 30 points, which is a positive,” the 26-year-old added.
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Dupont’s club and Test teammate, hooker Julien Marchand, was replaced after 12 minutes with coach Fabien Galthie saying he had suffered a minor thigh issue.
Peato Mauvaka impressed off the bench with Pierre Bourgarit, who has won two Champions Cup titles in a row with La Rochelle, the third option in that position in the squad.
“We’re hoping it won’t be too bad for Julien,” Dupont said. “But you can see when Peato came on and did well, and Pierre in the stands, we have depth in that position,” he added.
On a good note for Fabien Galthie’s men, they only conceded four penalties compared to the All Blacks’ 12.
“Our discipline allowed us to stay in the game, to stay in touch with New Zealand, and then get on top in the second half,” the former France captain said.
“There are three or four boxes tick to be able to a win a game like this on, and discipline is really key.”
© Agence France-Presse
Photo: Martin Bureau/AFP