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.