‘We are just gutted’: All Blacks stars reflect on World Cup loss to France

The All Blacks are understandably “gutted” after losing 27-13 to France in the Rugby World Cup opener, but there’s still plenty to play for as they set their sights on Namibia and beyond.

Playing in front of an unbelievable crowd at Stade de France on Friday night, Les Bleus created history as they handed the All Blacks their first-ever defeat in pool play at a World Cup.

New Zealand shot out of the blocks with wing Mark Telea scoring a try after only 91 seconds, but France hit back immediately after via a successful penalty from fullback Thomas Ramos.

That set the tone for the Test. With sports royalty in the crowd including footballer Kylian Mbappe, France and the All Blacks played out an all-time classic clash to open the tournament.

The passionate crowd let out a deafening cheer at full-time as Les Bleus started their World Cup quest with a 14-point win over one of the other genuine contenders.

But it’s far from over for the All Blacks. As playmaker Richie Mo’unga reflected, the entire tournament “doesn’t all rely on the first game.”

“When you look at the amount of opportunities we had in that game, we are just gutted about the way we let France back into the game when we had all the pressure,” Mo’unga told reporters on Friday.

“We know World Cups are challenging but it doesn’t all rely on the first game. That result is obviously not ideal for us, but we can only take what we can out of it now.

“We will have a really good look at ourselves and where we went wrong. That will be very hard to do but we need to if we want to go further.

“We put a lot of pressure on them and there was a lot we were really happy with. Sometimes it was just the bounce of the ball and I felt we were a bit hard done by with a few calls that allowed them to get momentum.”

France were both relentless and efficient across the park, but Ramos was especially impressive off the kicking tee - and that mattered in the end. The fullback knocked over five penalties, including three in the first half.

The same can’t be said about their opponents, though. The All Blacks, somewhat uncharacteristically, failed to turn pressure into points during key moments.

But there were some genuine positives to take out of that Test, and they should fill New Zealand rugby fans with some confidence ahead of clashes with Namibia, Italy and Uruguay.

“It won’t change much if we both earn the right to be in the quarter-final,” fullback Beauden Barrett said.

“What we’ve got to take from this game is the learnings, but also keep believing because we did a lot of good things out there tonight and after 60 minutes the game is on a knife edge.

"The French certainly rode their wave of home support. The atmosphere was fantastic and a great way to start the tournament at a home World Cup.”