Saturday's Autumn Nations Series fixtures will draw to a close with a blockbuster matchup, with France set to lock horns with New Zealand at the Stade de France.
The hosts got their year-end internationals underway with a comfortable victory over the Brave Blossoms last week, while the visitors took down the mighty Ireland in Dublin.
Match preview
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It has been a tough year for France, which began with a lacklustre Six Nations campaign, where they were without their influential leader and evidently suffering a World Cup hangover, followed by the drama in South America in July which culminated in a final-week defeat to Argentina.
However, with Antoine Dupont now back after winning Olympic gold, Les Bleus are starting to remind onlookers why they were the number-one team in the world less than two years ago.
Fabien Galthie's side kicked off their Autumn Nations series last week against Japan and looked as though they were having a training run at times, with Dupont pulling the strings in the eight-try victory which ended 52-12.
Aside from the scrum-half, Louis Bielle-Biarrey was almost unplayable across the 80, as the winger ran in three tries and assisted Alexandre Roumat for a fourth, taking Les Bleus out of by halftime 31-0 to the good.
Now, though, comes a massive step-up in class of opponent for the French, who by their own admission, were guilty of giving away far too many penalties in the second half last week, and it will be interesting to see how some of their emerging players handle the pressure of facing their Southern Hemisphere counterparts.
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Meanwhile, after their heartbreaking World Cup final defeat and a relatively poor showing at the Rugby Championship, which included a shocking defeat to Argentina, New Zealand are also starting to return to the type of form we have become used to seeing from them.
The All Blacks put on a resilient performance to hold off England at the start of the month, but their undoubted best showing of 2024 came last weekend when they overcame Ireland 23-13 in Dublin, where they showed their ability to adapt to a different flow of play.
The victory over Ireland felt like a breakthrough performance for Scott Robertson, as his side seemed to address the majority of the areas they lacked in at the Rugby Championship, showing much more power in the scrum, better timing at lineouts, and greater quality in their kicking game.
They also had to rely on both strategy and resilience, and it was their calm, methodical approach that allowed them to overcome an early second-half surge, turning a 13-12 deficit into a 23-13 lead within 20 minutes.
Still, despite the All Blacks' upturn in results, they will know this will be a different type of challenge altogether, against an opponent they have not beaten since back in 2018.
During that period, they lost the opening game of last year's World Cup and conceded 40 points in the French capital in 2021 - the last time New Zealand lost three straight games to Les Bleus was in the mid-1990s.
France form (all competitions):
- W
- W
- W
- W
- L
- W
New Zealand form (all competitions):
- L
- W
- W
- W
- W
- W
Team News
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Galthie has handed a long-awaited debut to Romain Buros for this match against New Zealand, and the Bordeaux man will come straight into the action for Leo Barre as one of four changes to last week's starting 15.
Toulon's Gabin Villiere is another new face in the back three, while stalwart Gael Fickou returns to occupy the number 13 jersey, resuming his midfield partnership with Yoram Moefana.
Paul Boudehent comes in for Francois Cros in the second row, while Thomas Ramos retains his spot at fly-half, forming one-half of the famous Toulouse axis alongside his skipper Dupont.
Robertson has given All Black fans what they have been crying out for, with Ardie Savea set to return to the starting 15, though he will be wearing the number seven jersey for the first time in over three years.
Behind the scrum, a key decision sees Damian McKenzie drop to the bench, with Beauden Barrett returning to the starting lineup at fly-half after missing the Ireland match due to a head injury.
Beyond the playmakers, Jordie Barrett and Rieko Ioane remain in the centre pairing, while Sevu Reece steps in for the injured Mark Telea, joining Caleb Clarke and Will Jordan in the back three.
France starting lineup: 15 Romain Buros, 14 Gabin Villiere, 13 Gael Fickou, 12 Yoram Moefana, 11 Louis Bielle-Biarrey, 10 Thomas Ramos, 9 Antoine Dupont, 8 Gregory Aldritt, 7 Alexandre Roumat, 6 Paul Boudehent, 5 Emmanuel Meafou, 4 Thibaud Flament, 3 Tevita Tatafu, 2 Peato Mauvaka, 1 Jean-Baptiste Gros
Replacements: 16 Julien Marchand, 17 Reda Wardi, 18 Georges-Henri Colombe, 19 Romain Taofifenua, 20 Mickael Guillard, 21 Charles Ollivon, 22 Nolann le Garrec, 23 Emilen Gailleton
New Zealand starting lineup: 15 Will Jordan, 14 Sevu Reece, 13 Rieko Ioane, 12 Jordie Barrett, 11 Caleb Clarke, 10 Beauden Barrett, 9 Cam Roigard, 8 Wallace Sititi, 7 Ardie Savea, 6 Samipeni Finau, 5 Tupou Vaa'i, 4 Scott Barrett (c), 3 Tyrel Lomax, 2 Codie Taylor, 1 Tamaiti Williams
Replacements: 16 Asafo Aumua, 17 Ofa Tu'ungafasi, 18 Pasilio Tosi, 19 Partick Tuipulotu, 20 Peter Lakai, 21 Cortez Ratima, 22 Anton Lienert-Brown, 23 Damian McKenzie
We say: France 20-27 New Zealand
New Zealand pulled off an incredible result last week with a performance that was significantly improved from those they put on at the Rugby Championship. France thumped Japan last time out, but this is a much bigger test for Les Bleus, and we feel they may just come up short if the All Blacks can replicate their performance from Dublin in this one.
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Devesh Jaganath
