Love impresses on All Blacks No.10 debut as New Zealand edge France 34-32

Ruben Love passed his first test as the All Blacks’ starting fly-half, steering New Zealand to a 34-32 victory over France despite being yellow-carded in just the second minute for a high tackle in the backfield.

The 25-year-old had previously made two starts at fullback for the All Blacks and a handful of bench appearances, but arrived at No.10 with considerable expectation after guiding the Hurricanes to a Super Rugby title. His early dismissal left the All Blacks scrambling, and France capitalised to build a 10-5 lead. When Love returned, however, New Zealand found their rhythm and turned the match around to lead 19-13 at half-time.

Love was at the centre of much of that recovery. On his second touch in phase play he put Damian McKenzie through for a line break, and two phases later Peter Lakai crossed for a try. Off a quick lineout on a kick return, Love split the French defence with a sharp left-foot step and found Josh Lord for a half break. He also skinned a French centre and Penaud on a sweeping play to the left to set up another 22 entry.

Head coach Scott Rennie was effusive in his praise after the final whistle. “Really pleased for him. He’s an impressive young man, he’s very confident, he’s taking control, doesn’t mind bossing around some of the old fellows. Yes, I’m really, really pleased for Ruben,” Rennie said.

Rennie did identify one area for improvement — the balance between attacking wide and going through the middle. “I thought we did a lot of really good things with the ball, but we just needed to play through them a little bit more. Their big men were tiring and they were able to play high on the edge, and we made a few errors here. I love the mindset, just got to be a lot more accurate.”

There was one game-management blemish in the second half, when halfback Roigard took a quick tap around halfway only for Love to kick possession away two phases later. Roigard took a firmer grip on proceedings as the match wore on, but Love’s first-half display in particular was error-free and mature.

Captain Ardie Savea was equally satisfied with how his new No.10 commanded the team, noting that Love “took control, really direct in his messaging” throughout the contest. The performance suggests Love’s grip on the All Blacks’ fly-half jersey will only tighten.