All Blacks beat France in thrilling Nations Championship opener

Nations Championship

New Zealand (19) 34

Tries: Jordan 2, Lakai, Roigard 2 Cons: Love 2 Pen: Love

France (13) 32

Tries: Penaud, Hastoy, Attisogbe, Jalibert Cons: Lucu 2, Hastoy Pens: Lucu 2

Will Jordan scored twice to help New Zealand beat France as the inaugural Nations Championship opened with a captivating, nine-try thriller in Christchurch.

Prolific wing Jordan struck in the seventh and 71st minute to hand new All Blacks boss Dave Rennie a winning start and move within two of Doug Howlett’s record 49 tries for New Zealand.

Peter Lakai and outstanding scrum-half Cam Roigard (2) were also on target for the southern hemisphere giants, while Six Nations champions France fell short of a rare win on New Zealand soil despite tries from Damian Penaud, Antoine Hastoy, Theo Attissogbe and Matthieu Jalibert.

France, without star names Antoine Dupont and Louis Bielle-Biarrey, also had a second-half try ruled out for a knock-on from Max Spring before Fabien Brau-Boirie touched down.

New Zealand host Italy next weekend while France travel to Australia.

• Nations Championship: Reaction after All Blacks beat France by two points in exciting match

When France toured New Zealand last year, Les Bleus brought a weakened squad and lost all three Tests by a combined 40 points.

And while Dupont and Bielle-Biarrey did not travel to Christchurch, France head coach Fabien Galthie fielded a strong team that included star fly-half Jalibert and record try scorer Penaud.

It made for a captivating, see-sawing tournament opener that went down to the wire.

France got off to a flyer when Penaud – axed from the Six Nations squad – struck inside the opening two minutes with a national record-extending try 41st try, with the All Blacks’ early malaise compounded when Ruben Love was sin-binned for a high tackle in the build-up.

But not to be outdone by his opposite number, Jordan hit back for the hosts with a fine finish, dotting down in the corner despite Theo Attissogbe’s last-ditch attempt to shove him into touch.

Maxime Lucu’s penalty gave France a 10-5 lead, but the home side hit back to lead when flanker Lakai raced over after combining with Caleb Clarke.

Lucu’s second penalty edged France back into a one-point lead but New Zealand struck on the cusp of half-time when Roigard darted over after hooker Codie Taylor went close to give the three-time world champions a six-point cushion at the end of a relentless opening half.

More to follow.