Dupont lauds French rugby team’s ‘wisdom’ for third straight win against New Zealand
France's nail-biting 30-29 victory against New Zealand's All Blacks on Saturday demonstrated "the experience and almost the wisdom of the team", captain Antoine Dupont said. While New Zealand dominated the first half of the match in Paris, France stayed the course to mark a third-straight win.
France captain Antoine Dupont praised his side's "pragmatism" after the 30-29 victory over New Zealand on Saturday in Paris.
Fly-half Thomas Ramos kicked 15 points for Les Bleus, who had trailed 14-3 after half an hour.
"We scored points, we were pragmatic which kept us in the game," Dupont told TF1.
"It shows the experience and almost the wisdom of the team as we know how to remotivate and go again," he added.
After conceding a 27th-minute Cam Roigard try, Dupont's side held out strong, with penalties from Beauden Barrett and Damian McKenzie keeping the All Blacks in the game.
"There's nothing more exhilarating than in those final few minutes you feel the guy next to you making that extra effort," Dupont said.
"Not giving in, not giving up on victory," he added.
New Zealand were dominant until the 30-minute mark, before France full-back Romain Buros scored on his debut and flanker Paul Boudehent crashed over from a maul after 44 minutes.
"Possession-wise, we were dominated," Dupont said.
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