Host France started the Rugby World Cup with a bang in front of 80,000 fans at the Stade de France.
Les Tricolores defeated three-time world champions New Zealand in the top game of Group A after being 9:13 behind with 27:13 (9:8).
New Zealand started with quick tries at the start and immediately after the break. But individual mistakes, too many fouls and a yellow card combined with a 10-minute time penalty on the part of the All Blacks brought the French back into the game. France also seemed more trained, so they were able to make the result very clear in the end.
Historic defeat for the All Blacks
It was a historic defeat for the All Blacks. They had never lost a group game at a World Cup before. With the top two teams in the group progressing to the quarter-finals, anything is still possible for New Zealand. In Pool A the other opponents are Italy, Namibia and Uruguay.
President Emanuel Macron had previously opened the XXL tournament, which runs for seven weeks. The Rugby World Cup is also seen as a kind of test run for the 2024 Summer Olympics on the Seine.
Tournament doesn’t end until the end of October
20 teams will compete at the World Cup, divided into four groups of five. After the preliminary round, the teams in first and second place qualify for the quarter-finals.
More than 2.5 million tickets have been sold so far for this year’s tournament, which only ends on October 28th with the final at the Stade de France.