‘That’s the exciting part’: What France loss did to All Blacks’ confidence

An injury to France flyhalf Romain Ntamack seemed to change everything before the World Cup. Les Bleus lost the ‘favourites’ tag as many bestowed that moniker upon the All Blacks.

New Zealand became the bookmarks’ favourites to hoist the Webb Ellis Cup in late October after a series of eye-catching victories in The Rugby Championship.

With coach Ian Foster at the helm, the All Blacks charged towards their fourth TRC crown in many years after clinical wins over Argentina and South Africa, and a Bledisloe Cup sweep against Australia.

The men in black won every trophy on offer during their first four tests, but nobody expected what happened next. The Boks inflicted a record defeat upon the All Blacks at Twickenham.

Having lost 35-7 to their arch-rivals, the All Blacks looked to bounce back in their World Cup opener against France, but instead fell to their first-ever pool stage defeat at the sports showpiece event.

But write the All Blacks off at your own peril. Ahead of their must-win clash with Italy in Lyon, centre Rieko Ioane spoke about the confidence within the squad.

"From my point of view, our mental state is real good,” Ioane told reporters on Wednesday. “Our confidence doesn't waver off a loss.

“We knew where we went wrong, that's the exciting part, that we as All Blacks get a chance to try to rectify. We know how good we can be and we are looking to show that on Friday."

The All Blacks are eager to make amends, and after a 71-3 demolition of Namibia in Toulouse, they’ll face the Azzurri in a must-win Test this week.

If the All Blacks are successful at OL Stadium, and can avoid a first-ever pool stage exit, then a potential clash with world No. 1 Ireland looms in the quarter-finals.

"People can talk about teams all they want but at the end of the day, we say performance is king,” Ioane added.

"It's not so much making a statement, we are focused solely on performance and we know how good [we can be] when or if we can get it right. You guys can talk about all the teams you like."

Ioane will start at outside centre against the Azzurri, and will be joined by returning teammate Jordie Barrett in the midfield.

Barrett has missed the entire World Cup campaign so far with a minor knee injury. The 26-year-old hasn’t worn the black jersey in the international arena since that disastrous defeat to the Boks.

"Obviously it's awesome to have him back,” Ioane said.

“We've formed a pretty good combo in the past. The last couple of weeks have been about him getting his body right and training has gone real smooth this week.

“It's going to be exciting to see him back in the World Cup again."